Nations agree to release more reserve oil

The International Energy Agency says its members agreed Friday to release further oil from their emergency reserves in response to the market turmoil caused by Russias invasion of Ukraine.The Paris-based agency said in a statement that the agreement was reached at an extraordinary meeting of ministers. The IEA said its member hold emergency stockpiles of 1.5 billion barrels.

The International Energy Agency says its members agreed Friday to release further oil from their emergency reserves in response to the market turmoil caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Paris-based agency said in a statement that the agreement was reached at an extraordinary meeting of ministers. It did not provide information on how much emergency stock would be released, saying this would be made public next week.

The agency's 31 members previously announced last month that they would release 62.7 million barrels of oil to ease shortages.

It said members noted the high oil price volatility caused by the war, with commercial inventories at their lowest level since 2014 and particular difficulties in diesel markets. Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer, with about 60% of exports going to Europe and 20% going to China. The IEA said its member hold emergency stockpiles of 1.5 billion barrels.