Government Officially Approved Release of Strategic Reserves at IEA... Joint Statement Condemning Russia Adopted

IEA Releases 60 Million Barrels of Oil Reserves... South Korea's Share is 4.42 Million Barrels
Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Deemed 'Illegal'... Restrictions on IEA Participation Rights Imposed

Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, is speaking at the International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial Meeting held in Paris, France. [Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The International Energy Agency (IEA) has officially approved the release of 60 million barrels of strategic oil reserves. The IEA also adopted a joint statement condemning Russia.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 25th that at the IEA Ministerial Meeting attended by Minister Moon Seung-wook from the 23rd to the 24th, the release of strategic oil reserves related to the Ukraine situation was officially approved. Earlier this month, the ministry reached a verbal agreement on the release of strategic oil reserves to stabilize energy supply and demand through an IEA video conference. South Korea will release 4.42 million barrels out of the 60 million barrels of strategic oil reserves to be released by the IEA. This amount corresponds to 5.4 days’ worth of the government’s strategic oil reserves, which total 97 million barrels, equivalent to 106 days of supply.

The IEA focused this ministerial meeting on the Ukraine situation. Accordingly, Ukraine was specially invited as a guest country to the ministerial meeting to discuss the energy impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the IEA’s joint response measures.

As part of the joint response, the IEA agreed to restrict the participation rights of Russia and Belarus in the IEA. Russia and Belarus will be excluded from future IEA support and will have their observer rights and other privileges revoked. Additionally, Brazil and Canada agreed to increase their daily oil production by 300,000 barrels by the end of the year to stabilize the energy market.

Moon Seung-wook, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, is speaking at the International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial Meeting held in Paris, France.
[Photo by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

Furthermore, IEA member countries discussed plans for carbon neutrality implementation at the ministerial meeting. Participating countries agreed to strengthen international cooperation to develop low-carbon energy technologies applicable to industries where carbon reduction is relatively difficult, such as steel, petrochemicals, and cement. Measures to stabilize the supply chains of critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, manganese, and rare earth elements were also discussed.

Following the ministerial meeting, IEA member countries, including South Korea, adopted an additional joint statement condemning Russia at the IEA Governing Board meeting. The IEA’s joint statement defined Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “illegal” and called for its swift withdrawal. The United States, the IEA chair country this year, proposed discussing additional measures to respond to supply disruptions caused by Russia’s closure of the Caspian oil pipeline.

Minister Moon said, “South Korea will actively participate in international cooperation with the IEA and major countries to stabilize the energy market,” adding, “In addition to releasing 4.42 million barrels of strategic oil reserves, we will contribute to further international cooperation in the oil and gas sectors if necessary.” He continued, “A stable supply chain of critical minerals is essential for achieving carbon neutrality,” and added, “South Korea will share experiences related to information sharing, stockpiling, and recycling of critical minerals and actively participate in cooperation among IEA member countries.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.