International Energy Agency moves to bolster oil supplies amid Ukraine crisis

Oil tanker ship SCF Samotlor sails under Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge as it crosses the Bosphorus strait after departing from Russia’s Novorossiysk port, in Istanbul (Francisco Seco/AP)

The International Energy Agency said that all 31 member countries have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves “to send a strong message to oil markets” that there will be “no shortfall in supplies” as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The IEA board made the decision at an extraordinary board meeting of energy ministers chaired by US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm.