“We are the world's fourth largest oil supplier and the largest within the IEA. We support this initiative by donating 23.6 million barrels produced by our industry,” Hodgson emphasized in a statement. He also added that Canada plans to increase gas exports in the coming months, which is intended to help allies gain access to additional fuel resources.
Read also: There is a key IEA decision on oil. Record release of reserves
The largest IEA action in history
The head of the IEA, Fatih Birol, announced on Wednesday that the agency's 32 member countries had unanimously agreed to send 400 million barrels of oil to the market. This is a response to the sharp increase in raw material prices caused by the armed conflict between the USA, Israel and Iran. For comparison, in 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, the IEA released 182 million barrels into the market in two tranches – twice as much as currently.
The 400 million barrels represent about one third of the government reserves of IEA member countries. These reserves were created after the 1974 oil crisis, when countries committed to holding stocks equal to 90 days of net imports. Their goal is to ensure stability of supplies in crisis situations.
Canada without strategic reserves, but with new export opportunities
Canada, one of the world's largest oil producers, has no strategic fuel reserves. In this country, reserves are created by private oil companies, and production far exceeds national needs. Most exports go to the United States. However, since May 2024, Canadian oil has also been flowing to the country's west coast thanks to the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, which has opened up new opportunities for selling the raw material to Asia.
Minister Hodgson did not specify how the 23.6 million barrels of oil under the IEA initiative would be delivered. Last Tuesday, in an interview with the Canadian public broadcaster CBC, he admitted that his ministry was receiving more and more inquiries about the possibility of supplying Canadian oil.
