The International Energy Agency just approved rele

The International Energy Agency just approved releasing 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves.

That is the largest emergency release in the history of the organization.

Bigger than anything seen during the Russia–Ukraine war or the Arab oil embargo era.

They did it because the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed.

One fifth of the world's oil supply moves through that narrow passage between Iran and Oman.

Right now, almost nothing is getting through.

Iran started laying mines in the strait this week.

The US military responded by destroying 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the waterway.

But here is the problem.

Iran still has 80 to 90 percent of its smaller vessels and mine laying craft intact.

It has the capacity to deploy hundreds more mines across the entire channel.

An Iranian military spokesperson made the threat explicit this morning.

Tehran is abandoning its policy of "reciprocal hits" and switching to "continuous strikes" against the United States, Israel, and their partners.

His exact words were chilling.

"We won't allow even one liter of oil to reach the US, Israel, and their partners. Any vessel or tanker bound to them will be a legitimate target."

He told the world to prepare for oil at $200 per barrel.

Meanwhile, President Trump told Axios the war will end "soon" because there is "practically nothing left to target" inside Iran.

But his own officials are telling a very different story.

US and Israeli military planners are preparing for at least two more weeks of strikes.

Israel's defense minister said the war will continue "without any time limit, for as long as necessary."

The oil market is caught between these two realities.

Crude spiked to nearly $120 per barrel on Monday after Israel bombed 30 Iranian oil depots.

Then it crashed more than 11 percent on Tuesday when Trump said the war was almost over.

This morning it reversed again, climbing back above $86 after Iran's $200 threat.

The 400 million barrel reserve release sounds massive.

And it is but it only covers about 20 to 40 days of a full Hormuz closure.

If this war lasts into April, the global emergency stockpile starts running dangerously low.

Nearly 15 million barrels per day of crude production are now stranded in the Persian Gulf. Iraq and Kuwait have no alternative route to get their oil out.

Liquefied natural gas from Qatar depends on Hormuz. Fertilizer shipments depend on Hormuz.

Shipping insurance rates have exploded and freight costs are surging worldwide.

The UN trade body warned this week that rising energy, transport, and food costs will strain the budgets of developing nations already buried in debt.

The last time something like this happened was the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

A 7 percent drop in global oil production caused prices to double and triggered recessions across multiple countries.

The current disruption is far larger.

This is 2026's defining crisis.

Every day it continues, the damage compounds across the entire global economy.

Source: StockMarket.News