Economy News

Oil tops $100 again a day after a record 400-million-barrel emergency reserve release

The 32 members of the International Energy Agency agreed on Wednesday 11 March to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from emergency stocks, Euronews reports, more than double the release after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Earlier coordinated releases never exceeded 183 million barrels. The US is contributing 172 million barrels; Germany, France and Italy will also tap stocks, and Japan starts the following Monday. IEA chief Fatih Birol called the crisis an “oil market challenge unprecedented in scale”.

Prices rose anyway. Ada Derana, carrying CNN, says Brent was around $100 late Wednesday, up 8.7%, three days after a four-year high. On Thursday, AP reports, Brent rose 7.9% to $99.25 after touching $101.59, and US crude 9.3% to $95.34; earlier in the week prices had neared $120, the highest since 2022. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% and the Dow 575 points by midday, and the 10-year Treasury yield reached 4.24%, up from 3.97% before the war.

Euronews says exports from the region have fallen to 10–15% of pre-war levels and at least 16 ships have been struck. ING's Warren Patterson said the release “is not going to go very far” to offset the roughly 15 million barrels a day disrupted.

How each outlet framed it

• Euronews — the limits of the release, and Oxford Economics' view that $140 oil would tip the world into a mild recession.
• AP — the US market: airline, cruise and retail stocks down, and traders pushing back hopes of Fed rate cuts.
• Ada Derana (CNN) — the headline move: oil back above $100 despite the historic release.

What we don't know yet: how long the Strait of Hormuz stays effectively closed. AP says analysts see $150 oil if it does.