The Financial Times is reporting that G7 finance ministers will be discussing a possible joint release of petroleum from reserves co-ordinated by the IEA later today. That in accordance to their meeting set up from last week here. I guess this meeting just went from one that was rather lame to become quite an important one to start the week.
The sources cited in the report also say that three G7 members, including the US, have already given the green light to release the reserves.
As seen last week, Japan was the first to consider the idea already and they alongside the US should be one of the three members agreeing to this proposal. However, it would be bad form for Japan to act on its own as they are bound by the IEA coordination rule as mentioned at the time. So, this is basically that.
All that being said, just be mindful that much of this tends to have a psychological effect more so than actual physical impact - at least immediately.
Sure, oil prices did drop back with WTI crude now down to $106 from around $115 earlier. However, just be reminded that it will take weeks for the actual physical oil to reach refineries on any release. This was the same as we saw back in 2022 amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As such, this helps to alleviate the market somewhat but it doesn't exactly address the crux of the problem. That especially if the conflict in the Middle East threatens to last for much longer than anticipated. The bigger factor to really see lasting relief in the market right now is Trump's appetite for the war to continue.
