Canada, 31 nations agree to release 400M barrels of emergency oil
Global News
Canada and a group of dozens of other countries have agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves as the Iran war threatens the global supply.
Canada and a group of dozens of other countries have agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves as the Iran war threatens the global supply.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), which comprises Canada and 31 other member nations, made the announcement in a release Wednesday after it said a meeting was conducted “to assess market conditions amid the conflict in the Middle East and consider the options to address supply disruptions.”
The IEA said it’s the sixth time such a co-ordinated stock release has been done since the organization was created in 1974.
“The oil market challenges we are facing are unprecedented in scale, therefore I am very glad that IEA Member countries have responded with an emergency collective action of unprecedented size,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a release.
“Oil markets are global so the response to major disruptions needs to be global too. Energy security is the founding mandate of the IEA, and I am pleased that IEA Members are showing strong solidarity in taking decisive action together.”
Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping route by threatening any vessels that attempt to pass through the narrow channel separating the Persian Gulf from global shipping routes. About 20 to 25 per cent of the world’s oil supply relies on the strait being open to shipping traffic.
According to the IEA, its members hold emergency stockpiles of more than 1.2 billion barrels of oil, with an additional 600 million of industry stocks held under government obligation.
“The conflict in the Middle East that began on Feb. 28, 2026 has impeded oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with export volumes of crude and refined products currently at less than 10 per cent of pre-conflict levels,” the IEA said in the release.
Sustained pressure on oil prices could mean Canadians will pay significantly more at the grocery store by the end of this month, one expert said.
Also on Sunday, the Prime Minister's Office said Carney gathered the Incident Response Group with ministers and senior officials to discuss the ongoing war in Iran.
An investigative group says newly released video “appears to contradict” U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for an explosion at an Iranian school.
A survey found a majority of Canadians want Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to lose his claim to the throne, while 51 per cent say the Royal Family is not relevant to them personally.
PST, the Norwegian police security service, called in additional personnel following the incident but has not changed the country's terror threat level.
Israel's military has so far killed about 200 Hezbollah militants, spokesman Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing. Hezbollah has not published a toll for its fighters.
Canadians are returning home from the Middle East as escalating U.S.-Iran tensions disrupt travel and rattle global energy markets.
Iran's president apologized Saturday for attacks even as its missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states. He also rejected Donald Trump's repeated demands for surrender.
The U.S. says it has stuck a new agreement to provide up to US$20 billion in reinsurance coverage to 'restore confidence in maritime trade' amid the Iran war.
Leavitt also said Washington was looking at potential candidates to lead Iran, a day after Trump said that the U.S. must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.
Canada has arranged a chartered flight departing from the UAE, which has the highest number of Canadians registered in the region, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said.
Carignan said a meeting is set for early Friday morning to discuss such a proposal among allied militaries and that a recommendation would be presented to the government.
As the Iran conflict jeopardizes global oil and gas supplies, Canada's energy and resource sector may be able to offset some of these impacts and see benefits to the economy.