Unleash The Reserves

13 Mar 2026: How will SPR releases impact the market and trade flows? The conflict between the US., Israel and Iran is entering its third week and the Strait of Hormuz remains virtually closed.  This has tightened the oil markets.  Oil prices have been very volatile, but they have been clearly trending up since the conflict started.  As we already stated in previous Tanker Opinions, the unprecedented oil supply crunch was almost inevitably going to trigger a release of strategic reserves.  Two days ago, the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) authorized a record-breaking coordinated release of 400 million barrels (Mb) of oil from emergency reserves.  In this week’s Tanker Opinion, we discuss how this is going to work and what the potential impact will be on trade flows and tanker rates. Please fill out the form to read the article