The International Energy Agency announced that its 32 member nations have unanimously agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves.
This marks the largest coordinated drawdown in the agency's 52-year history, triggered by the catastrophic disruption of supplies following the outbreak of war between the United States and Iran.
The decision followed an extraordinary ministerial meeting on March 10, where officials assessed the "unprecedented" threat to global energy security.
The conflict has effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz—a vital artery through which one-fifth of the world's oil flows—after a series of Iranian-led attacks on tankers.
With three more vessels struck on March 11, commercial shipping has ground to a virtual halt.
"The challenges we face are unparalleled in scale," stated IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol, noting that the response must be equally monumental.
Japan, holding the G7's largest reserves, confirmed via Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that it will begin its release as early as next week.
Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche similarly pledged full compliance with the mandate.
The intervention represents only the sixth collective action since the IEA's inception in 1974, dwarfing the previous releases of 1991 and 2022.
While the agency holds total stockpiles exceeding 1.8 billion barrels, this massive 400-million-barrel injection is a desperate bid to offset the massive supply vacuum and prevent a total global economic derailment.