The Narendra Modi-led government stated on Thursday that it welcomes the announcement by the International Energy Agency (IEA) for a collective oil stock release of 120 million barrels.
The government added that it has also "taken note of the US Government's decision, late last month, to release 180 million barrels from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves, over the next 6 months, to calm rising global fuel prices."
In an official statement, the government also said that it is examining what it can do to support positive initiatives with such collaborations. "In the interest of collaborating with likeminded countries on these positive initiatives, Government of India is examining what it can do to support these actions," noted the government.
"As a major consumer of energy, India has consistently espoused the importance of stable, affordable and accessible global energy markets. Government of India, therefore, hopes that these initiatives will bring equanimity to global energy markets," it added.
"The @IEA is moving ahead with a collective oil stock release of 120 million barrels (including 60 million barrels contributed by the US as part of its overall draw from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve)," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol tweeted had tweeted,
This move by the U.S.-allied IEA countries, which represent 31 mostly industrialized countries but not Russia, would be their second coordinated release in a month and would be the fifth in the agency's history to confront oil market outages.