Government to Release Additional 7.23 Million Barrels of Reserve Oil... "IEA International Cooperation"

Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, international oil prices have surged, causing domestic fuel prices to continue soaring day after day. On the 23rd, gasoline and diesel were being sold at a Seoul gas station for well over 2,000 won per liter. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 8th that it has decided to release an additional 7.23 million barrels of strategic oil reserves in consultation with the International Energy Agency (IEA), a group of major oil-consuming countries.

At the IEA ministerial meeting held on the 1st, the chair country, the United States, proposed an additional release of a total of 120 million barrels after the initial release of 60 million barrels failed to improve the oil supply and demand situation.

At this meeting, Minister Moon Seung-wook of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expressed Korea's intention to participate in the additional release.

Representatives of the 31 IEA member countries expressed support for the IEA's measures, leading to an agreement on the additional release.

After practical consultations between the secretariat and member countries, it was decided to release a total of 120 million barrels over the next six months, with the United States bearing about half, or 60.56 million barrels.

Korea's release volume is the third largest after the United States and Japan (15 million barrels). This additional release follows the government's decision last month to release 4.42 million barrels of strategic reserves.

The government stated, "Through this largest-ever release, we aim to respond comprehensively to the high oil price situation caused by the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict and minimize the burden on the national economy," adding, "We will maintain strategic reserves equivalent to more than 90 days as recommended by the IEA even after this additional release."

Considering the recent shortage of diesel in Europe and the strong international price of diesel, the government explained that an additional 600,000 barrels of diesel will also be released from the strategic reserves.

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