Canada and a group of other countries have agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves as the war in Iran threatens global supplies.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), which includes Canada and 31 other member countries, made the announcement in a release on Wednesday after a meeting was held to “assess market conditions amid the Middle East conflict and consider ways to deal with supply disruptions.”
The IEA said it was the sixth coordinated stock release since the agency was founded in 1974.
“The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented, so I am very pleased that IEA member countries have responded with urgent collective action of an unprecedented scale,” IEA director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
“Oil markets are global and therefore the response to major disruptions must be global. Energy security is the founding mandate of the IEA, and I am pleased that IEA Members are showing strong solidarity in taking decisive action together.”
Get daily world news
Get daily Canadian news delivered to your inbox so you don’t miss the top stories of the day.
Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane by threatening any ships that try to pass through the narrow channel that separates the Persian Gulf from international shipping lanes. About 20 to 25 percent of the world’s oil depends on open shipping.
According to the IEA, its members hold an emergency stockpile of more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil, and an additional 600 million barrels of oil held under government responsibility.
“The conflict in the Middle East that began on Feb. 28, 2026 has blocked the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, with volumes exported of crude and refined products currently below 10 percent of pre-conflict levels,” the IEA said in a release.
“This is forcing operators across the region to shut down or reduce a large amount of production.”
Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesman for Iran’s military warned that the global oil price could reach US$200 per barrel as the conflict continues.
Oil prices reached around $120 a barrel on Monday, before cooling slightly. As of publication, the price was just under $90, up from around $64 days before the conflict began.
On Monday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters that “there will be further consultations” before taking measures to ease oil markets, including releasing oil wells.
“It’s very flexible,” he said. “I mean, what we all guarantee is that there will be enough stock, obviously, to meet the demand.”
The IEA’s statement said it would “continue to closely monitor global oil and gas markets” and provide further recommendations to governments in its organization as needed.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
