South Korea will release 22.46 million bbl of its oil reserves to alleviate a global energy crunch triggered by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, said the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Resources on Wednesday.

This volume represents 5.6% of the International Energy Agency's collective emergency action announced the same day, whereby its 32 member countries agreed to make a total of 400 million bbl available to the market, the largest such coordinated drawdown in IEA's history.

Although specific details on the exact timing and breakdown of the release have not been disclosed, South Korea will coordinate closely with the IEA while prioritizing its national interests and domestic circumstances.

As an IEA member country, South Korea's decision aligns with the agency's emergency response to stabilize global oil markets amid severe supply disruptions. IEA members collectively hold over 1.2 billion barrels in government emergency stockpiles, supplemented by an additional 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.

IEA rules require member countries to maintain emergency oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports and to be prepared for coordinated responses to major supply disruptions.

South Korea ranks fifth among IEA members in terms of emergency oil reserve size, according to an IEA report dated Feb. 12, 2026. As of late 2025, state-owned Korea National Oil Corp. or KNOC held approximately 100 million bbl of government-controlled oil reserves, excluding international joint stockpiles. Combined with private sector holdings, South Korea's total strategic reserves equate to roughly 200-208 days of demand.

KNOC operates nine stockpiling bases across the country:

* For oil products: Guri, Yongin, Donghae and Goksung;

* For crude oil: Ulsan, Geoje, Yeosu and Seosan; and

* For LPG: Pyeongtaek.

South Korean refineries import around 70% of their crude from the Middle East Gulf, according to an analyst's estimate.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting by Thomas Cho, tcho@opisnet.com; Editing by Mei-Hwen Wong, mwong@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 12, 2026 00:00 ET (04:00 GMT)

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