No Plans to Release Emergency Oil Reserves, IEA Says

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said that the energy issues resulting from the conflict in the Middle East were logistics rather than supply related.

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol gives a press conference in Brussels on March 6, 2026. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said on March 6 its members had no plans to release emergency oil reserves amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol told reporters in Brussels that “there is plenty of oil in the market,” saying the problem was about logistics, not a lack of supply.