Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said on Thursday that global energy markets are undergoing a “critical transition phase,” following the agency’s agreement on Wednesday for a coordinated withdrawal of oil from global reserves amid the war on Iran.
Birol added, during a press conference in Istanbul, that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz was the reason behind the agency’s decision.
The agency, which comprises major oil-consuming nations, agreed to release 400 million barrels from global strategic reserves to mitigate one of the worst oil price shocks since the 1970s, representing the largest intervention of its kind in its history.
