France\u2019s finance minister, Roland Lescure, has said that the G7 is \u201cnot there yet\u201d on an agreement to release oil stockpiles, and has yet to reach a concensus on the issue.<\/p>\n
Reuters reports that Lescure added that ministers have agreed to use \u201cany necessary tools if need be\u201d to stabilise the market, including \u201cthe potential release of necessary stockpiles\u201d.<\/p>\n
Japanese finance minister Satsuki Katayama has told a briefing that the International Energy Agency called for a coordinated release of emergency oil reserves during today\u2019s online call with the G7.<\/p>\n
Katayama said:<\/p>\n
double quotation mark\u201cIEA called for each country to do coordinated release of oil reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
BREAKING: <\/p>\n
G-7 nations decide against releasing SPR for now
G-7 agreed to continue monitoring energy markets<\/p>\n
Japan says IEA recommended G7 to release SPR<\/p>\n
\u2014 Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 9, 2026<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.39 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Investors betting Middle East crisis will only last a month Investors are betting the conflict in Middle East will last no more than a month, says Dario Perkins, the managing director of global macro at the consultancy TS Lombard.<\/p>\n Many of these investors fear missing out on the upswing in stocks should Donald Trump declare victory and oil prices sink back towards the $60 a barrel seen in January.<\/p>\n If it last longer than a month, Washington\u2019s complacency could induce a massive shock that is compounded by central bank\u2019s raising rates to control inflation.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a risk that we are experiencing one shock to many,\u201d Perkins said, explaining:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cPeople are comparing the current situation to the inflation seen in 2022, but there is so much that is different this time.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2022, but back then the economy was growing stronly out of the pandemic, househol savings were high, there were job shortages and because of that worker power was quite high. You can see that the elements were in place for inflation to go higher.<\/p>\n \u201cBut now, the economy is stagnant, interest rates are high, there is not job shortage and unemployment is rising.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means the central banks could find themselves hiking interest rates back up again as the economy is getting weaker and making the situation worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Perkins, who was in the Treasury as an economic adviser in the 2008 crash, added:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cThere is an assumption the economy has proved resilient during the tariff crisis and all the others. But what is this is a shock to far.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>G7: We stand ready to take necessary measures<\/p>\n The G7 finance ministers have now issued a statement, following their video call today.<\/p>\n They say they are ready to take \u201cnecessary measures\u201d to support the global supply of energy, which could include the releasing of stockpiles, following the current conflict in the Middle East and its effects on the oil and gas prices.<\/p>\n They say:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cWe stand ready to take necessary measures, including to support global supply of energy such as stockpile release.\u201d<\/p>\n However, it doesn\u2019t appear that the G7 have actually resolved to do anything.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>IAE’s Birol: I updated G7 on conditions in global oil markets<\/p>\n Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, has issued a statement confirming that he took part in today\u2019s meeting of G7 Finance Ministers on the global economic situation and Middle East conflict<\/a>.<\/p>\n Birol says that he updated ministers about the deteriorating conditions in global oil markets.<\/p>\n He adds that the meeting \u201cdiscussed all the available options\u201d including releasing emergency oil stock.<\/p>\n But\u2026 he doesn\u2019t suggest that any decisions has been made\u2026.<\/p>\n Today, on the invitation of Minister Roland Lescure of France, which holds the G7 Presidency, I took part in a meeting of G7 Finance Ministers on the global economic situation and Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n My statement on the meeting: https:\/\/t.co\/NnpeYX73nn<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/M4gqwz7tmT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Fatih Birol (@fbirol) March 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The oil price is rising again, after G7 ministers failed to agree to release their crude reserves at their meeting today.<\/p>\n US crude, which had been bobbing around $100 a barrel a few minutes ago, has now risen back to $103.30 a barrel.<\/p>\n Brent crude, the international benchmark, is back to $104.70.<\/p>\n Those are gains of around 13% today \u2013 a monster move for the oil price, but still lower than the $119.50\/barrel hit last night as markets reopened.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>G7 ‘not there yet’ on releasing oil reserves<\/p>\n Newsflash: G7 finance ministers have not, yet, agreed to release oil stockpiles to calm the market.<\/p>\n Finance ministers from the G7 \u2013 that\u2019s Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States \u2013 have held their planned conference call today to discuss the crisis<\/a>, after oil surged over $100 a barrel overnight.<\/p>\n France\u2019s finance minister, Roland Lescure, has said that the G7 is \u201cnot there yet\u201d on an agreement to release oil stockpiles, and has yet to reach a concensus on the issue.<\/p>\n Reuters reports that Lescure added that ministers have agreed to use \u201cany necessary tools if need be\u201d to stabilise the market, including \u201cthe potential release of necessary stockpiles\u201d.<\/p>\n Japanese finance minister Satsuki Katayama has told a briefing that the International Energy Agency called for a coordinated release of emergency oil reserves during today\u2019s online call with the G7.<\/p>\n Katayama said:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cIEA called for each country to do coordinated release of oil reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n BREAKING: <\/p>\n G-7 nations decide against releasing SPR for now Japan says IEA recommended G7 to release SPR<\/p>\n \u2014 Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) March 9, 2026<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.39 EDT<\/p>\n Tankers off the coast of Fujairah last week, as Iran vows to fire on ships transiting the strait of Hormuz. Photograph: Amr Alfiky\/Reuters<\/p>\n Reuters are reporting that a Greek-operated tanker with one million barrel of oil, which was loaded up in Saudi Arabia, has saied through the strait of Hormuz today.<\/p>\n Ship trackers also show that two \u201cIran-linked oil products tankers\u201d have also sailed through the strait, they add.<\/p>\n A sign that the strait isn\u2019t totally closed, although many tanker firms are reluctant to risk sailing through it in case they are attacked.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Boeing leads DJIA fallers<\/p>\n All but four of the 30 companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average have dropped in early trading.<\/p>\n Aircraft manufacturer Boeing (-3.2%) are the top faller, followed by manufacturing conglomerate 3M (-3.1%) and network equipment maker Cisco (-3%).<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Wall Street opens in the redThe floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Photograph: Brendan McDermid\/Reuters<\/p>\n Wall Street has begun the new week by dropping, as investors react to oil\u2019s surge over $100 a barrel.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a terribly severe sell-off at all, though.<\/p>\n The Dow Jones industrial average has dropped by 434 points at the open, a fall of 0.91%, to 47,067 points.<\/p>\n The broader S&P 500 index, and the tech-focused Nasdaq are both down 0.9%.<\/p>\n David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation<\/a>, says the jump in energy prices has triggered \u201ca wave of negative sentiment as investors look to trim their exposure to risk assets\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>India not planning to release oil in coordination with IEA<\/p>\n India is not planning to release oil reserves in coordination with the International Energy Agency and has no immediate plans to raise retail prices for gasoline and diesel as of now, a government source told Reuters today.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a fascinating chart from Deutsche Bank, comparing inflation this decade to the 1970s, when the global economy suffered two prices shocks, both from the Middle East.<\/p>\n Photograph: Deutsche Bank<\/p>\n Their market strategist Jim Reid reminds us what was going on five decades ago:<\/p>\n double quotation markBack in the 1970s, there was a first oil shock in 1973, when an oil embargo was placed on Western countries in retaliation for their support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. Oil prices nearly quadrupled but remained relatively stable afterwards. So inflation began to fall back. However, by 1978, inflation had begun to pick up from its cyclical lows again and accelerated further when political unrest in Iran intensified and strikes disrupted the oil sector.<\/p>\n In early 1979, the Iranian Revolution then occurred, with the monarchy overthrown and Ayatollah Khomeini becoming leader of the new Islamic Republic. At the time, Iran accounted for roughly 7% of global oil production, but the upheaval saw output collapse from around 5.5\u20136.0mn barrels per day to roughly 1\u20131.5mn, before recovering gradually to average around 3mn barrels per day in 1979.<\/p>\n Although the net loss to global supply was only about 4\u20135%, oil prices surged from roughly $15\/bbl to nearly $38\/bbl between 1979 and 1980, around a 150% increase. The move wasn\u2019t solely about physical shortages, but also uncertainty, precautionary stockpiling and fears of wider geopolitical disruption\u2014a psychological shock as much as a physical one. Then in 1980, the Iran-Iraq war began, adding even more uncertainty.<\/p>\n One difference this time, though, is that the 2022 inflation shock was caused by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, not conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n The economic situation today is also different \u2013 long-term inflation expectations are stable, economies are much less energy-intensive today, and weaker unions mean less chance of a 1970s-style wage-price spiral.<\/p>\n That said, the recent oil shock has been extremely rapid, Reid adds:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe last six days have seen prices rise around +44% as I write, having been up as much as +65% at the highs earlier today in Asia. By comparison, the sharpest monthly increases during the 1979 surge were April (+13%), May (+12%) and June (+22%).<\/p>\n The most striking similarity is the sequence of shocks, with Iran at the centre of the second shock in both decades and arriving roughly 4\u20135 years after the first. The key difference is the inflation regime. In the late 1970s, expectations were poorly anchored and the second oil shock helped ignite a wage-price spiral that required aggressive monetary tightening. Today by contrast, expectations remain relatively anchored and the global economy is less sensitive to energy shocks than half a century ago.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> The Anglo-German travel company Tui said it has repatriated another 600 British, German and other package holidaymakers from the Middle East, flying them on its own planes to Manchester and Hanover on Sunday.<\/p>\n Around 300 people flew from the Maldives to Manchester while 300 were repatriated from the United Arab Emirates (with a stop in Heraklion in Crete) to Manchester and Hanover.<\/p>\n This comes after the tour operator repatriated 550 holidaymakers last week to Frankfurt and Hanover, on aircraft it chartered from the airline Emirates.<\/p>\n Tui also started flying back people who are on board its cruise ship Mein Schiff 5, anchored in Doha, last night.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>European Commission: we have sufficient stocks of oil and gas<\/p>\n The Europea Commission has said that member states have sufficient stocks of oil and gas despite the disrupted supply chains due to the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n EC spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told reporters in Brussels:<\/p>\n double quotation mark\u201cWe are far less concerned about the security of supply than we are of the high energy prices.\u201d<\/p>\n Itkonen added that EU members had stocks of oil or equivalents to last up to 90 days, and that there was no sign of any emergency situation.<\/p>\n![\"Phillip](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Philip_Inman.png\")
Phillip Inman<\/p>\n
G-7 agreed to continue monitoring energy markets<\/p>\n![\"Julia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773070274_528_Julia-Kollewe,-L.png\")
Julia Kollewe<\/p>\n