South Korea is in discussions with the IEA over the agency’s proposal to release strategic oil reserves, Seoul officials said Wednesday. This photo, taken Mar. 10, shows a gas station in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap
The South Korean government is “closely involved” in discussions with the International Energy Agency (IEA) over the agency’s reported proposal to release strategic oil reserves to help stabilize soaring oil prices, Seoul officials said Wednesday.
Officials at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources confirmed Seoul’s participation in the reported IEA discussions to Yonhap News Agency, following media reports saying that the IEA has proposed the largest-ever release of oil reserves to its 32 member countries, including South Korea.
According to the report by the Wall Street Journal, IEA members are expected to soon decide on the proposal in an extraordinary meeting.
“South Korea is closely involved in discussions over a coordinated release of strategic oil reserves by the IEA,” a ministry official said.
The country currently holds around 1.9 billion barrels of oil reserves, which is enough to last more than 200 days.
“We have yet to decide how much oil will be released from our reserves with the IEA’s decision,” a ministry official said.
The Seoul government has released its strategic oil reserves on five occasions since 1990, all through international coordination.
The occasions included the 1991 Gulf War, the 2011 Libya crisis and the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine War in 2022.
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