The members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) have agreed to release 120 million barrels of crude oil, according to Bloomberg.
But 60 million barrels of that 120 million has already been accounted for as part of the 180 million barrel SPR release that the Department of Energy made last week.
Between the IEA and the United States, 240 million barrels of crude oil is set to be released from the world's strategic energy stores.
In the United States, the first 90 million barrels of the 180 million set to be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be released between May and July, the DoE said on Monday, through two notices of sale totaling 70 million barrels, plus 20 million barrels set to be released in May. The second half of the 180 million barrels is set to be released between August and October of this year.
The IEA had agreed on March 1 to release 62 million barrels of crude from their collective stockpiles. Before this year, the IEA last released reserves in 2011.
Oil prices sank on the announcement of the release in conjunction with notices from the U.S. Federal Reserve that it would raise rates by less than it had originally planned.
At 3:26 p.m. ET, WTI crude had sunk below $100, trading down 4.83% on the day at $97.09. Brent crude was trading at $101.90 per barrel, down $4.74 (-4.44%) on the day.
The downward pressure on crude oil prices is expected to be temporary, absent any production hikes or demand curbs.
The IEA currently holds a collective 1.5 billion barrels in strategic reserves.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More
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