G7 unlocks 100 million barrels: Who holds world’s emergency oil and who decides when to release it? A deep dive

The world is preparing to tap another vast pool of emergency oil. On 2 October, G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel from emergency reserves over four months, with a substantial diesel component expected within 20 days. The move, coordinated through the International Energy Agency (IEA), comes as Middle East disruptions squeeze energy supplies and push fuel prices higher.

But the oil is not held in one global reserve. It sits in government caverns, commercial storage facilities and mandatory industry stockpiles. The IEA can coordinate countries, but it does not own the oil.

So who controls the world's emergency oil reserves, and who decides when those barrels are released?

China has the world's biggest oil cushion

The US Energy Information Administration estimates China's strategic oil inventory at 1.492 billion barrels in the second quarter of 2026, far ahead of the US and Japan.

But China's role in the current oil squeeze extends beyond the size of its reserves. China is also cutting fuel exports, tightening the amount of refined petroleum products available to overseas markets just as the global supply picture is under pressure. That makes Beijing's domestic stockpile and export policy important variables for the wider fuel market.

There is, however, a major caveat. China does not publish comprehensive strategic inventory data. The EIA therefore estimates the stockpile using trade, refining and storage data, while also including commercial inventories. The figure is consequently not directly comparable with the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

(Source: US Energy Information Administration. Figures are estimates and are not directly comparable across all countries.)

China's position highlights a central problem with emergency oil data: the world's largest estimated stockpile is also among the least transparent.

The US reserve has fallen sharply

The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve has an authorised capacity of 714 million barrels, but releases in recent years have significantly reduced its inventory.

The US Department of Energy announced another exchange of up to 40 million barrels on 29 September as part of the wider IEA response. Reuters subsequently reported that the SPR had fallen below 284 million barrels.

That puts the reserve at less than 40% of its designed capacity.

Who decides when emergency oil reserves are released?

There is no single global authority that can order the release of the world's emergency oil.

The decision is made nationally.

In the US, the President can authorise a qualifying emergency drawdown, including when there is a “severe energy supply interruption” or when an international programme requires action. The Department of Energy then executes the release.

In India, strategic crude is released through government mechanisms, with the Inter-ministerial Empowered Committee having the authority to release the strategic portion during an oil shortage event. ISPRL operates the physical reserves.

In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry decides when government stocks should be released. Japan also requires private companies to maintain emergency inventories.

South Korea similarly combines government-controlled reserves with mandatory industry stocks.

So the basic chain is:

Supply disruption → government assessment → release decision → reserve agency or companies → refineries → market

The IEA sits alongside this process rather than above it.

What does the IEA actually control?

The IEA does not own the oil held in member countries' reserves.

Its role is to coordinate collective action.

In March 2026, its 32 member countries agreed to make 400 million barrels available following major disruptions linked to the Middle East conflict. Individual governments were responsible for implementing their own contributions.

The latest G7 agreement follows the same broad architecture. The countries are unlocking portions of their own reserves, while the IEA helps coordinate the international response.

That means the 100 million barrels announced on 2 October are not being released from a single G7 stockpile.

India has 21 million barrels in the EIA estimate

India's estimated strategic oil inventory stood at 21 million barrels in Q2 2026.

Its first-phase Strategic Petroleum Reserve system has 5.33 million tonnes of capacity across three underground facilities:

• Visakhapatnam: 1.33 million tonnes
• Mangaluru: 1.5 million tonnes
• Padur: 2.5 million tonnes

The reserves are operated through Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited, or ISPRL. The government has also approved another 6.5 million tonnes of underground storage at Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka.

India's system also illustrates why headline reserve figures can be misleading. A country's emergency cushion can include government stocks as well as commercial and mandatory industry inventories.

Why the 100 million barrels matter

The G7's latest release is aimed at a market where the immediate pressure is not necessarily identical across all fuels.

A country can have crude oil available but still face a diesel shortage if refining capacity, shipping routes or regional supply chains are disrupted. That is why the composition and location of emergency stocks matter as much as the headline number of barrels.

The release is also the latest step in a much larger international response. The US has already committed substantial volumes from its SPR, while European and Asian countries are drawing on their own systems.

The oil may be global. The keys are not

The world's emergency oil system is therefore a network rather than a single reserve.

Governments decide when their strategic stocks can be released.

Reserve agencies and private companies handle the physical stocks.

The IEA coordinates collective action between countries.

And even after a release is authorised, the oil still has to reach refineries and consumers. Storage location, crude quality, pipelines, shipping routes and refinery compatibility can all affect how quickly that happens.

The G7 may have agreed to unlock 100 million barrels. But the bigger story is how fragmented control of the world's emergency oil really is.

The oil is held around the world. The decision to release it remains largely in national hands.