400 million barrels of oil to be released from strategic reserves as Iran targets commercial ships

Attacks on multiple commercial ships in the waters around Iran on Wednesday raised global energy concerns, pushed countries to release strategic oil reserves and sparked fresh criticism about the Trump administration’s preparedness for a war it launched.

As the Trump administration and U.S. military officials continue to claim increasing success and advantage in the conflict, leaders around the world have scrambled to respond to the latest attacks and the International Energy Agency’s call by its members to release the largest ever strategic oil reserves to help stem increases in energy prices.

Energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have “almost stopped” amid the conflict, leading to massive global competition for oil and gas in rich countries and fuel rationing in poor countries, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a speech on Wednesday morning.

He said the IEA’s 32 member countries brought a “sense of urgency and solidarity” to recent discussions on the issue and unanimously agreed to “initiate the largest-ever release of emergency oil stocks in our agency’s history” by making 400 million barrels of oil available.

But he said the most needed change was “the resumption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Several countries, including Germany, Austria and Japan, have already confirmed plans to release their reserves.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on U.S. plans to release its strategic reserves or how much would be released. The USA is a member of the IEA.

However, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum supported the idea of ​​releasing oil reserves within a certain period of time. Fox News interview.

“Of course, these reserves are used in such moments, because what we are experiencing here is not a world energy shortage, we have a temporary transportation problem,” Burgum said. “When you have a temporary transition issue that we have resolved militarily and diplomatically, that we can and will resolve, it’s a perfect time to consider releasing some of those issues to take some of the pressure off the global price.”

Burgum said that Iran is “holding the entire world hostage economically by threatening to close the strait,” while Trump has made the consequences of such actions “very clear” and that “there are many options between us and our allies in the region, including our Arab friends in the region, to ensure that these straits remain open and the flow of energy for the global economy continues.”

Some Iranian-linked tankers are believed to still be passing through the Strait of Hormuz. 20% of the world’s oil and natural gasIranian officials have threatened to attack other ships, saying they will not allow “a single liter of oil” to be connected to the United States, Israel or their allies through the canal connecting to the Persian Gulf.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the United States and its powerful Navy would support commercial shipping and ensure the strait remains open to oil shipments, but this has not been the case.

Tankers wait off the Mediterranean coast of southern France on Wednesday.

(Thibaud Moritz/AFP via Getty Images)

The UK Merchant Marine Operations centre, run by the British military, reported that at least three ships were hit in the area on Wednesday; these included ships off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and a cargo ship that was hit by a shell in the strait just north of Oman, setting it on fire.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration and the US military are broadcasting messages that Iran’s ability to place mines in the strait will be eliminated; broadcasts dramatic videos of massive attacks on small boats at small docks.

Admiral Brad Cooper, leader of US Central Command, he said in a video “In short, US forces continue to provide devastating combat power against the Iranian regime,” the message appeared on X on Wednesday morning.

“I have said this before, but it is worth repeating: The war power of the USA is increasing, and the war power of Iran is decreasing,” he said.

He said the US hit more than 60 Iranian ships and “destroyed the last of the Soleimani-class warships.” “This is a class of Iranian ships that are now out of the fight.”

Cooper said Iran’s ballistic missile and drone attacks have “dropped dramatically” since the start of the war, but “it is worth noting that Iranian forces continue to target innocent civilians in Gulf countries while hiding behind their own people while launching attacks from Iran’s highly populated cities.”

He also addressed the attacks on commercial shipping in the region directly, saying that “for years, the Iranian regime has threatened commercial shipping and US forces in international waters,” and that the US military’s “mission is to end their ability to project power and harassing shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”

Other US leaders questioned the US war plan and, in particular, its approach to protecting the Strait of Hormuz.

One a series of posts Speaking to X late Tuesday after a classified two-hour briefing on the war, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) criticized the administration’s plans as “inconsistent and incomplete.”

The administration’s war goals appear to be focused primarily on “destroying large numbers of missile, boat and drone factories,” Murphy wrote, and there is no clear plan for what Iran, still governed by a “hardline regime,” will do if it begins rebuilding that infrastructure other than continuing to bomb them. “This is, of course, an endless war,” he wrote.

Murphy also specifically criticized the administration’s plan for the Strait of Hormuz, saying it simply does not exist.

“And they had NO PLAN for the Strait of Hormuz,” he wrote. “I can’t go into further detail about how Iran closed the Strait, but suffice it to say: They don’t know how to reopen it safely right now. This is inexcusable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.”