1. How many times has the IEA released emergency oil stocks?
Six times: IEA members made emergency stocks available together in 1991, 2005, 2011, twice in 2022 and in 2026, and the United States contributed to every one of those actions (IEA, DOE). Behind them sits a treaty, the Agreement on an International Energy Program signed on 18 November 1974, under which every member must keep emergency stocks; the 90-day rule explains how they are counted. America's own reserve is almost as old: Congress created the SPR with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, and the first 412,000 barrels arrived in 1977 (CRS, DOE).
| Decided | Trigger | Agreed volume (IEA) | US share and delivery | Price reaction, per source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Jan 1991 | Gulf War | plan for 2.5 mb/d within two weeks, 2.0 mb/d of it from stocks | 33.75 mb authorised over 45 days, bids accepted for only 17.3 mb. Sources disagree: UPI reported 1 mb/d from the US; 33.75 mb over 45 days is 0.75 mb/d (own calculation) | Brent spot $30.28 (16 Jan) → $21.10 (17 Jan), −$9.18 or −30% (own calculation); the air campaign began the same night, effects cannot be separated |
| 2 Sep 2005 | Hurricane Katrina | 60 mb at 2 mb/d for 30 days | 30 mb offered, 11.0 mb sold. Emergency loans, sources disagree: 9.8 mb (DOE, CRS R42460) or about 13.2 mb (CRS RS22233) | crude briefly above $70, then lower; US gasoline record of $3.06 a gallon on 5 Sep, then $2.75 |
| 2011 | Libya | 60 mb: 38 from public stocks, 22 from relaxed industry obligations | 30 mb offered, 30.6 mb sold | $94.96 (22 Jun) → $90.70 (23 Jun) → $95.73 (30 Jun); the effect lasted about a week; benchmark not named by CRS |
| 1 Mar 2022 | War in Ukraine, action 1 | 62.7 mb | 30 mb | Brent above $100 for the first time since 2014; prices rose despite the release |
| 1 Apr 2022 | War in Ukraine, action 2 | 120 mb (about 88 crude, 32 products) | 60 mb, part of the US 180 mb programme; DOE deliveries 2 Mar 2022 to 1 Jan 2023: 180,266,185 barrels | on the US announcement of 31 Mar: Brent −4.9% to $107.91, WTI −7.0% to $100.28; OPEC+ output decision the same day |
| 11 Mar 2026 | Middle East war, Hormuz crisis | 400 mb agreed, 426 mb pledged (19 Mar) | 172.2 mb pledged as exchanges; about 35 mb delivered by 11 May (DOE) | ICE Brent +3.6% to $90.95 (11 Mar, 14:35 GMT); above $100 on 12 Mar |
mb = million barrels, mb/d = million barrels a day; prices in US dollars. Sources: 1991 UPI (17 Jan 1991), CRS R42460, EIA (series RBRTED); 2005 CRS RS22233 (3 Oct 2005), CFR (Sep 2005); 2011 World Oil (16 Sep 2011), CRS R42460; 2022 IEA (1 and 14 Apr 2022), VOA (1 Mar 2022), S&P Global (31 Mar 2022); 2026 IEA (12 and 19 Mar 2026), S&P Global (11 Mar 2026), Euronews (12 Mar 2026); US volumes DOE (15 Sep 2025, annual report 2022, 11 May 2026).
Why so much US detail? The Department of Energy (DOE) logs every SPR drawdown, whereas our sources do not document how much oil all IEA members delivered together in 1991. Read the price column with care: almost every move coincided with other news.
2. How does the 2026 release compare with earlier ones?
By volume, 2026 far exceeds every earlier action: the 426 million barrels pledged are 2.3 times the 182.7 million of the two 2022 actions combined and 7.1 times the 60 million of 2005 or 2011 (own calculation). It began with a unanimous decision on 11 March to make 400 million barrels available, a volume the IEA's Oil Market Report of 12 March called “unprecedented”. Once countries had confirmed their shares on 19 March, the total stood at 426 million: 280 from public stocks, 119 from obligated industry stocks and 28 from higher production, or 301 million barrels of crude and 125 million of products (IEA).
The US pledged 172.2 million barrels, 40.4% of the total (own calculation), structured as exchanges rather than sales, with about 120 days planned for delivery (DOE, 11 March). The UK pledged 14.0 million barrels, all from obligated industry stocks, 4.3 million crude and 9.7 million products (IEA); sources disagree on the amount, as the government's written statement of 12 March named 13.5 million. Japan and Korea together pledged 102.3 million, 24.0% of the total (own calculation). Two IEA snapshots also differ: the regional figures of 15 March (Americas 195.8, Asia Oceania 108.6, Europe 107.5 million) add up to 411.9 million (own calculation), the country table of 19 March to 426 million. The ten largest pledges:
| Country | Contribution (mb) | Form per IEA |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 172.2 | public, crude (as exchanges) |
| Japan | 79.8 | 54.0 public + 25.8 industry |
| Canada | 23.6 | extra production |
| South Korea | 22.5 | – |
| Germany | 19.5 | public (EBV) |
| France | 14.6 | – |
| United Kingdom | 14.0 | industry: 4.3 crude + 9.7 products |
| Türkiye | 11.7 | – |
| Spain | 11.6 | industry, products only |
| Italy | 10.0 | – |
| Total (all 30 countries) | 426 | 280 public, 119 industry, 28 extra production; 301 crude, 125 products |
Every country's pledge is listed on IEA release 2026: who gave what.
3. Did the SPR actually deliver what was announced?
Not always: in 2011 the SPR sold 30.6 million barrels against an offer of 30 million, but in 1991 DOE accepted bids for only 17.3 of the 33.75 million barrels it had authorised over 45 days, and in 2005 it sold 11.0 of the 30 million it offered (CRS R42460, DOE). Sales reached 51.3% of the 1991 authorisation and 36.7% of the 2005 offer (own calculation). Because the SPR sells through competitive bids, an announced volume works as a ceiling rather than a delivery promise. The 2005 emergency loans to companies are disputed as well: 9.8 million barrels according to DOE and CRS R42460, about 13.2 million according to CRS RS22233.
In 2022 DOE delivered 180,266,185 barrels between 2 March 2022 and 1 January 2023, and the SPR ended the year at 372.1 million barrels (DOE annual report). The 2026 count is still open: DOE reported about 35 million barrels delivered by 11 May and more than 133 million awarded by 10 June; EIA data show the SPR down from 415.4 million barrels at the end of February to 285.0 million in the week to 11 September, 130.5 million less (own calculation). IEA-wide, around 290 million barrels had been released by 21 July (IEA). The 2026 barrels were structured as loans that come back with a premium: 1.28 barrels per barrel on average, Energy Secretary Wright said according to Reuters (9 July); more on refilling the reserves in 2027.
4. What other SPR releases have there been besides the IEA actions?
The best documented are emergency exchanges: beyond the six IEA actions, DOE has repeatedly lent SPR crude to individual companies after hurricanes, pipeline problems or other supply disruptions, and its history of SPR releases (updated 15 September 2025) lists them. Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 and Harvey in 2017 led to such loans as well, and 2012 saw no emergency sale at all, only the exchange after Hurricane Isaac. The borrower repays in crude later; DOE used the same model for the US contribution in 2026, adding premium barrels on top.
| Year | Occasion | Volume per DOE |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Hurricane Katrina, emergency loans | 9.8 mb |
| 2012 | Hurricane Isaac, exchange with Marathon | 1.0 mb |
| 2021 | Hurricane Ida | 3.3 mb |
| November 2021 | exchange within a 50 mb announcement | 32.0 mb |
| December 2022 | Keystone pipeline | 1.8 mb |
| July 2025 | exchange with ExxonMobil | 0.5 mb |
Source: DOE, History of SPR Releases (15 Sep 2025). For 2005, CRS RS22233 (3 Oct 2005) counts about 13.2 mb of loans to seven companies.
Of the 50 million barrels announced in November 2021, 32 million were an exchange; the sale of the other 18 million is not confirmed in our sources. The SPR can release up to 4.4 million barrels a day, and oil reaches the market about 13 days after a presidential decision; at its peak on 27 December 2009 it held 726.6 million barrels (DOE). The current level is on US Strategic Petroleum Reserve level.
The UK works differently: it has no government-owned stocks and no central stockholding agency. Companies carry the stocking obligation, and a “release” means the Secretary of State lowers it so they can sell surplus stocks (IEA). In 2026 the UK said it would reduce its obligations rather than physically release stocks, according to Anadolu Agency.
5. Have past releases brought gas prices down?
No reliable rule emerges: prices fell around the 1991 and 2011 decisions and the US announcement of 31 March 2022, but rose around 1 March 2022 and 11 March 2026, and almost every move coincided with other news. The 1991 drop came the night the air war began; the fall on 31 March 2022 shared the day with an OPEC+ output decision; in 2026, Iranian strikes outweighed the record release, according to Euronews. Brent averaged $103 in March 2026, $32 more than in February, and peaked near $128 on 2 April (EIA, 7 April).
The research points in different directions. The US Treasury estimated on 26 July 2022 that that year's releases cut gasoline prices by 17 to 42 cents a gallon (38 cents with an alternative method). Kilian and Zhou (Dallas Fed, 2019) put the effect of earlier SPR releases on the real oil price at less than $2 a barrel in the Gulf War, about $3 after Katrina and about $12 in 2011; their method can understate effects when an announcement precedes the physical release. Razek, Galvani, Rajan and McQuinn (Resources Policy, 2023) conclude that the 2022 drawdowns likely caused the market to panic and contributed to gasoline price increases. The IEA itself says releases are meant “to mitigate the negative economic impacts of a supply shock, and not as a tool to manage prices” (16 November 2022). The full evidence is on Do releases lower prices?
How to cite: Global Oil Shock (Jörg Dässler), “Emergency Oil Releases Since 1991: IEA and SPR”, as of 23 Sep 2026, https://globaloilshock.com/en/strategic-oil-reserves/emergency-release-history/