Brent at $100: Will IEA announce further releases? in Oil & Companies News 13/03/2026 Oil markets remain highly volatile as the conflict involving the U.S., Israel and Iran continues to disrupt flows through the Strait of Hormuz, raising the question of whether the International Energy Agency (IEA) could release additional emergency reserves if crude prices climb further. Oil prices have swung sharply in recent days amid escalating tensions and attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure in the region. Brent crude has traded in a wide range, reaching close to $120 per barrel earlier in the week before retreating. The prices have fluctuated between roughly $84 and $117 during the recent turmoil, and are currently trading near $98. The volatility in the market reflects a severe disruption to global oil supply. Citi estimates that producers have shut in around 6–7 million barrels per day of output as flows through the Strait of Hormuz remain heavily constrained. The waterway, a critical chokepoint for global oil trade, is currently “effectively closed,” with shipping activity down by as much as 90% as vessels face attacks and security threats, Citi strategists led by Eric Lee said in a note. In response, the IEA and its member countries have announced a record emergency release of 400 million barrels from their stockpiles. The strategists said this volume could cover roughly four weeks of disrupted flows if supply losses remain in the range of about 11–16 million barrels per day. The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement, adding that member countries have responded with “an emergency collective action of unprecedented size.” Despite the historic release, Citi suggests that further intervention could be triggered if prices continue to rise. “Should the IEA continue to stand ready to provide liquidity and do so, we expect this will be effective in capping oil prices (with >$100/bbl Brent likely driving further releases), alongside India buying more Russian oil, and China reducing stockpiling activity,” the strategists wrote. Total IEA and OECD stockpiles amount to around 1.8 billion barrels, including roughly 1.25 billion barrels held by governments and about 600 million barrels in industry stocks held under obligation. While theoretical drawdown rates could reach as high as 24 million barrels per day for short periods, historical emergency releases have been much smaller, typically below 2 million barrels per day. Citi now sees Brent trading in a baseline range of $80 to $100 per barrel over the next two weeks, up from its previous forecasted range of $80 to $90. Source: Investing.com 2026-03-13 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share