The United States, China, United Kingdom, India, South Korea and Japan have now deep their hands into their individual strategic oil reserves as a way of cooling the rise in prices and also controlling inflation. In response to this development, the International Energy Agency (IEA), which monitors global oil supplies on behalf of the world's leading economies, said it respected the decisions made by the biggest energy-consuming nations.
According to the IEA, "We recognise that the rise in oil prices is placing a burden on consumers and has added to inflationary pressures during a period when the economic recovery remains uneven and faces a range of risks. We respect the decisions made by individual countries on how best to respond to the specific challenges and circumstances they each face."
The United States has stated that it will release about 50 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with the oil expected to hit markets in December, while India has agreed to release 5 million barrels, with South Korea targetting the release of nearly 3.5 million barrels.
The others on the list are China, Japan and the United Kingdom who in a statement disclosed that it will allow companies to "voluntarily release" oil reserves of up to 1.5 million barrels.
