These countries join the United States in drawing on their emergency oil reserves
In a statement on Tuesday, the White House said China, Japan, India, South Korea and the UK would join the initiative after weeks of talks to formulate a plan to stop the hikes of price.
The International Energy Agency, which monitors global oil supplies on behalf of the world’s major economies, said it respects decisions made by individual countries on “how best to respond to the specific challenges and circumstances facing they are each confronted “.
“We recognize that rising oil prices are weighing on consumers and increased inflationary pressures during a period when the economic recovery remains uneven and faces a range of risks,” the agency said in a statement. .
India
India has agreed to release 5 million barrels, to be timed in agreement with the other five nations.
“India has repeatedly expressed concern that the supply of oil is artificially adjusted below demand levels by oil-producing countries, leading to higher prices and negative consequences,” the Minister said. Indian government in a statement shortly after the White House announcement.
He said several Indian state governments had already taken “tough steps” to reduce local fuel taxes.
“Despite the government’s high tax burden, [they] were taken in order to relieve the citizens, ”he added.
South Korea
The South Korean government said in a statement that the amount and timing of the release of its oil reserves would be decided in consultation with other countries, but said it should be at a level “similar to previous cases of international cooperation”.
“The South Korean government has decided to participate in the US proposal to release oil reserves after considering the need for international cooperation in the face of the recent surge in international oil prices, the importance of the [South Korea]-The American alliance and the participation of the main countries, ”he said in a statement from his Foreign Ministry.
UK
The UK government said in a statement it would allow companies to “voluntarily release” oil reserves of up to 1.5 million barrels, in what it called “a reasonable and measured measure to support global markets at the end of the pandemic “.
“As we have said before, we will work closely with our international partners to do everything possible to support the global economy throughout the transition from the pandemic,” a government spokesperson said.
China
The world’s second-largest economy and largest oil importer told CNN on Friday they were working on a strategic oil release. A spokesperson for China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration said China “is currently continuing work related to crude oil spills.”
The spokesperson declined to say whether the move responds to a demand from the United States to work together to address the supply crisis.
Japan
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Saturday that the country “is considering what we can do on the basis of our collaboration with our allies”, when asked about the possibility of releasing oil from its reserves in collaboration with the United States and other countries.
Japan had 388 million barrels of total strategic crude oil stocks as of June 2020, according to the US Energy Information Administration. He said about 76% of these were government stocks and about 24% were business stocks.
The prospect of the United States and other major energy consumers of releasing emergency barrels has already helped lower oil prices, at least in the near term. After going over $ 85 a barrel at the end of October, US oil prices have fallen by about 10%. This helped put the brakes on the surge in gasoline prices.
—CNN’s Beijing office, Manveena Suri, Emiko Jozuka and Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.
