{"id":4188,"date":"2026-03-12T04:28:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T04:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=4188"},"modified":"2026-03-12T04:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T04:28:38","slug":"iea-to-release-400-million-barrels-of-oil-reserves-to-lower-crude-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/?p=4188","title":{"rendered":"IEA to Release 400 Million Barrels of Oil Reserves to Lower Crude Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at a coordinated effort to tackle rising global <strong>crude costs<\/strong>, <strong>Chile<\/strong>\u2019s new far-right president, and <strong>North Korea<\/strong> testing strategic cruise missiles.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>400 Million Barrels<\/h3>\n<p>The International Energy Agency (IEA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/energy-oil\/iea-proposes-largest-ever-oil-release-from-strategic-reserves-275f4e5c?st=uJnh19&amp;reflink=article_copyURL_share\">announced<\/a> on Wednesday that its 32 member nations, including the United States, will collectively release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves in an effort to bring down <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/09\/oil-markets-iran-war-trump\/\">rising crude costs<\/a> caused by the Iran war.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at a coordinated effort to tackle rising global <strong>crude costs<\/strong>, <strong>Chile<\/strong>\u2019s new far-right president, and <strong>North Korea<\/strong> testing strategic cruise missiles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-fallback\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">\n                <\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/category\/world-brief\/\">Sign up<\/a>  to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<form data-shortcode-newsletter=\"world_brief\" class=\"newsletter-unit-signup newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode email-capture--step-1 newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief newsletter-shortcode-world_brief\">\n<div class=\"show-on-email-capture--signed-up hide-from-newsletter-subscriber newsletter-unit-signup--shortcode--container\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-unit newsletter-row\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-world_brief\">\n<h2 class=\"dek-heading\">Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every weekday.<\/h2>\n<p>\n                        <button class=\"button\">Sign Up<\/button>\n                    <\/p>\n<div class=\"grid--flex newsletter-world_brief newsletter-signup-container\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"World Brief sign up form\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"buttons\">\n<div class=\"hide-from-newsletter-subscriber privacy-policy-container\">\n<div class=\"privacy-policy-acknowledge\">\n<p><small>By submitting your email, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/termsofuse\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms of Use<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.<\/small><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n    <label for=\"email-world_brief\">Enter your email<\/label><br \/>\n    <input type=\"email\" name=\"email\" class=\"hide-from-reg hide-from-sub\" id=\"email-world_brief\" aria-required=\"true\" required=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>    <button class=\"button button--signup \" data-newsletter-id=\"world_brief\" data-sourceid=\"In-article unit\" type=\"submit\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"sign-up-text\">Sign Up<\/span><br \/>\n      <span class=\"loading-text\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>400 Million Barrels<\/h3>\n<p>The International Energy Agency (IEA) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/energy-oil\/iea-proposes-largest-ever-oil-release-from-strategic-reserves-275f4e5c?st=uJnh19&amp;reflink=article_copyURL_share\">announced<\/a> on Wednesday that its 32 member nations, including the United States, will collectively release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves in an effort to bring down <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/09\/oil-markets-iran-war-trump\/\">rising crude costs<\/a> caused by the Iran war.<\/p>\n<p>This is the \u201clargest-ever release of emergency oil stocks in our agency\u2019s history,\u201d IEA chief Fatih Birol <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/PqJqX6HMW6M\">said<\/a>, adding that this distribution is to \u201coffset the supply lost to the effective closure\u201d of the Strait of Hormuz. Since fighting began 12 days ago, commercial shipping through the <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/09\/hormuz-strait-insurance-seafarers\/\">strategic waterway<\/a>\u2014where normally one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil transits\u2014has ground to a <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/03\/iran-strikes-hormuz-shipping-oil-2\/\">virtual standstill<\/a>, igniting uncertainty in global energy markets.<\/p>\n<p>In total, IEA nations hold <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/news\/iea-member-countries-to-carry-out-largest-ever-oil-stock-release-amid-market-disruptions-from-middle-east-conflict\">1.2 billion barrels of oil<\/a> in public stocks on top of another 600 million barrels in mandatory commercial inventories. That amounts to roughly 124 days\u2019 worth of lost supply from the Persian Gulf. Birol did not provide an exact timeline for when each IEA member will release its share of the reserves. However, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-03-11\/japan-to-release-oil-from-reserves-unilaterally-takaichi-says\">confirmed<\/a> that Tokyo will distribute 15 days\u2019 worth of oil from private-sector stockpiles and another 30 days\u2019 worth from government reserves as soon as Monday.<\/p>\n<p>This is the IEA\u2019s first coordinated release since 2022, when the agency distributed 182 million barrels of oil following Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and it is its sixth major action since the IEA was created in 1974.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the threat to global energy markets is far from over. Iranian officials warned the United States this week to prepare for further upsets to crude costs. \u201cGet ready for oil to be $200 a barrel, because the oil \u200bprice depends on regional security, which you have destabilized,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/combatants-mideast-war-trade-more-air-strikes-iran-clamps-down-dissent-2026-03-11\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&amp;utm_term=031126&amp;lctg=607f1056abd4f461f466319b\">Ebrahim Zolfaqari<\/a>, the spokesperson for Tehran\u2019s military command.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, projectiles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukmto.org\/recent-incidents\">struck<\/a> two commercial ships in or near Hormuz, according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Tehran <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/alirezatangsiri\/status\/2031706791952728384\">appeared<\/a> to take responsibility for at least one of these attacks: an assault on the Thai-flagged cargo ship <em>Mayuree Naree<\/em>. Global maritime trackers have confirmed at least 13 strikes on vessels in or around the strait since the war began.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Central Command <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CENTCOM\/status\/2031746326484984196?s=20\">warned<\/a> Iranian civilians on Wednesday that U.S. forces cannot guarantee the safety of shipping ports in Hormuz. \u201c[T]he Iranian regime is using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz to conduct military operations that threaten international shipping,\u201d the agency said. \u201cCivilian ports used for military purposes lose protected status and become legitimate military targets under international law.\u201d Centcom urged all civilians to immediately avoid these areas.<\/p>\n<p>Iranian military spokesperson Abolfazl Shekarchi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/world\/live-news\/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-11-26?post-id=cmmm9ymxq00083b6wg46w3pru\">responded<\/a>, saying, \u201cIf Iran\u2019s ports are threatened, all ports and docks in the region will be our legitimate targets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Also on Wednesday, two Iranian drones <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iran-israel-us-march-11-2026-oil-prices-24243b5c1e1f32ea8ff52b9a02822396?user_email=6b04284e4d00370f16d3dac0a626e01bf24d86e4d6995646867da6aa680488d0&amp;utm_medium=Morning_Wire&amp;utm_source=Sailthru_AP&amp;utm_campaign=Morning%20Wire%20March%2011%202026&amp;utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers\">targeted<\/a> Dubai International Airport, the world\u2019s busiest center for international travel. Four people were wounded in the attack, though the airport remains operational. Fragments from an intercepted military projectile also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/03\/11\/world\/iran-war-news-trump-oil-israel\/6fa3cf33-b351-550c-8b8b-9c62b9735266?smid=url-share\">damaged<\/a> Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Today\u2019s Most Read<\/h3>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>What We\u2019re Following<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Right-wing shift. <\/strong>Far-right leader Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/mar\/11\/jose-antonio-kast-pinochet-fan-chile-far-right\">sworn in<\/a> on Wednesday as Chile\u2019s new president. His inauguration kicks off the Latin American country\u2019s most <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/11\/12\/chile-president-election-right-wing-politics-kast-jara\/\">right-wing shift<\/a> since its return to democratic rule in 1990, and it forecasts increased cooperation between Santiago and Washington, where U.S. President Donald Trump has heralded Kast\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n<p>Kast secured a <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/12\/15\/chile-kast-trump-populism-america-venezuela\/\">landslide victory<\/a> during presidential elections in December against Communist Party candidate Jeannette Jara. He campaigned on tough-on-crime policies, sweeping immigration crackdowns, and traditional family values. Notably, Kast has <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/11\/14\/chile-no-movie-review-dictatorship-election\/\">publicly supported<\/a> former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose reign saw thousands of people murdered, tortured, arbitrarily detained, and forcibly disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>On his first day in office, Kast is expected to sign several agreements with the United States aimed at bolstering collaboration on critical minerals and security issues, <em>Bloomberg<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-03-11\/chile-s-new-president-to-signal-fast-alignment-with-trump-agenda\">reported<\/a> on Wednesday. Chile is the world\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/01\/30\/copper-prices-latin-america-trump-tariffs-critical-minerals\/\">largest copper producer<\/a> and holds roughly one-third of global lithium reserves. Such deals will likely signal Santiago\u2019s intentions to align closer with Washington at a time when China is <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2023\/06\/23\/chile-boric-lithium-strategy-minerals-industry-green-energy-batteries\/\">competing for influence<\/a> in Latin America.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cruise missile tests. <\/strong>North Korea <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2026-03-11\/n-korea-tests-missiles-as-us-reportedly-moves-arms-to-mideast\">test-fired<\/a> strategic cruise missiles from a Choe Hyon-class warship on Tuesday, marking the second such launch in a week. \u201cImportant successes have been recently made in putting the strategic and tactical strike means on a practical basis and deploying them for an actual war,\u201d North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said while watching the launch with his daughter, whom experts believe is being prepared to succeed him. Kim <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/north-korea-kim-missile-tests-us-south-a091960cc5f438b2313aae5e243c9c13?user_email=6b04284e4d00370f16d3dac0a626e01bf24d86e4d6995646867da6aa680488d0&amp;utm_medium=Morning_Wire&amp;utm_source=Sailthru_AP&amp;utm_campaign=Morning%20Wire%20March%2011%202026&amp;utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers\">maintained<\/a> that Pyongyang must retain \u201ca powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s tests come one day after joint U.S.-South Korean military drills began in the Indo-Pacific. Dubbed \u201cFreedom Shield,\u201d the annual 11-day exercise involves thousands of troops and 22 field training drills focused on what both Washington and Seoul have characterized as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3345923\/us-begins-large-military-exercise-south-korea-while-attacking-iran\">defensive maneuvers<\/a> in response to frequent North Korean <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/09\/north-korea-nuclear-space-weapon-missile-defense-golden-dome\/\">weapons tests<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2025\/05\/19\/north-korea-missile-aircraft-radar-surveillance-technology\/\">military demonstrations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Pyongyang, however, has <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/north-korea-kim-yo-jong-us-joint-drills-e9e89ba3ea07a94bbe387cea1116b467\">denounced<\/a> the exercises, with Kim\u2019s powerful sister calling them a \u201cprovocative and aggressive war rehearsal\u201d that \u201cwill further destroy \u200bregional stability\u201d at a time when wars are \u201cbreak[ing] out in different parts of the world due to the reckless acts of outrageous international rogues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>No more birthright. <\/strong>The British Parliament <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2026\/mar\/10\/hereditary-peers-to-lose-their-seats-in-the-house-of-lords\">approved<\/a> legislation on Tuesday to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords. The bill\u2019s passage ends a centuries-old system of birthright-held seats in the upper chamber and fulfills a key pledge by Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour Party, which has long argued that the system is outdated. Hereditary peerages are expected to be abolished by mid-May.<\/p>\n<p>Until now, up to 92 hereditary peers were allowed to sit in the House of Lords. This number was determined in 1999, when then-Prime Minister Tony Blair removed more than 600 such peerages. Under the new system, that quota will now effectively be zero. \u201cGetting this bill through \u200bis a major first step towards reform of the Lords, with further changes to follow, including on members\u2019 retirement and participation requirements,\u201d Lords leader Angela Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/uk\/uk-ends-centuries-old-hereditary-seats-parliament-upper-chamber-2026-03-11\/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=Newsletter&amp;utm_campaign=Daily-Briefing&amp;utm_term=031126&amp;lctg=607f1056abd4f461f466319b\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To get the Conservative Party to withdraw its opposition to the bill, Smith <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cdxg76rgdp7o\">confirmed<\/a> on Tuesday that London will offer life peerages to some birthright seat holders, including Conservatives and crossbenchers (members who are unaffiliated with any political party). All other members will be removed from office once the current parliamentary session ends this spring.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h3>Odds and Ends<\/h3>\n<p>After more than a year of negotiations, Italian authorities announced on Tuesday that they have <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/italy-caravaggio-portrait-painting-maffeo-barberini-pope-culture-52d739100b450709b88c7e74f761de22?user_email=6b04284e4d00370f16d3dac0a626e01bf24d86e4d6995646867da6aa680488d0&amp;utm_medium=Morning_Wire&amp;utm_source=Sailthru_AP&amp;utm_campaign=Morning%20Wire%20March%2011%202026&amp;utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers\">purchased<\/a> a rare Caravaggio painting from a private collection for roughly $35 million, making it one of the largest state investments in a single piece of artwork in history. The portrait, dated around 1598, depicts the nobleman Maffeo Barberini, who later became Pope Urban VIII. Acquiring the painting is part of an Italian government effort to strengthen the country\u2019s cultural heritage. \u201cPortrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini\u201d will be displayed in the Palazzo Barberini\u2019s permanent collection in Rome.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2026\/03\/11\/iran-war-iea-oil-reserves-release-crude-strait-hormuz\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to World Brief, where we\u2019re looking at a coordinated effort to tackle rising global crude costs, Chile\u2019s new far-right president, and North Korea testing strategic cruise missiles. 400 Million Barrels The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Wednesday that its 32 member nations, including the United States, will collectively release 400 million barrels [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politcical-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firearmupgrades.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}