PARIS (AP) — The International Energy Agency has agreed to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the effects on energy markets of the war in the Middle East. The Paris-based organization said Wednesday (March 11, 2026) that it will make 400 millio n barrels of oil available from its members’ emergency reserves. It’s a larger stock than the 182.7 million barrels that were released in 2022 by the IEA’s 32 member countries in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During a videoconference of the Group of Seven leaders Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron praised the emergency release, saying it amounts to the equivalent of 20 days of the volume normally exported through the Strait of Hormuz. ...read more read less