Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol waits for Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (not pictured) before their meeting at the beginning of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / POOL / AFP)
Tokyo: Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol said on Wednesday the Agency is ready to release additional oil reserves if needed.
Speaking from Tokyo, Birol said that reserves still hold large quantities of oil, with 80 percent of stockpiles remaining, highlighting that the 400 million barrels released represent only 20 percent of reserves.
The IEA Executive Director said that the Agency is ready to release more stockpiles if and when necessary, hoping, however, that doing so will not be necessary.
He noted that the world is facing a serious energy security threat, while also assuring that the IEA is capable of fulfilling its core role of safeguarding global energy security.
Birol's remarks came in response to a request from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who urged the Agency to be ready to release additional reserves if the situation continues amid the conflict in the Middle East.
Earlier this month, the IEA had stated that its member countries would release 400 million barrels of oil from their reserves to mitigate the impact of the conflict, marking the largest operation of its kind.
For its part, Japan began last week releasing private-sector reserves sufficient for 15 days, and starting Thursday, it will begin drawing from government stockpiles.
