“An IEA stock release is a rare event; this release is only the fourth in the IEA’s 48-year history. The first was at the end of 1991 just before the first Gulf War, the second in 2005 in response to the disruption from Hurricane Katrina, and the third in 2011 due to the conflict in Libya. The IEA does not have any oil stocks itself and instead coordinates the release of emergency stocks held by its member governments. The IEA Secretariat advises on the timing and scale of any such release, but the decision to draw from inventories needs the unanimous agreement of the IEA’s Governing Board.” On March 1, the International Energy Agency announced the release of 60 million barrels of emergency oil stocks held by its members in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington]