26 Countries to Release Petroleum Reserves

26 countries including the United States have pledged to release oil, gasolene and other petroleum products from their emergency reserves to bring down soaring prices and avert domestic shortages.

"If the crisis affects oil products then it's a worldwide crisis. No one should think this will be limited to the United States," Claude Mandil, head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) told German daily Die Welt.

"They are already buying gasoline in Europe. If the refineries are damaged, that will only increase. Then this will become a worldwide crisis very quickly."

The initiative will make available to the market two million barrels of strategic oil reserves a day for an initial period of 30 days.

"Although the initial impact of the storm was regional, the implications for the oil market are global. IEA member countries are acting in solidarity with the United States in addressing this loss and restoring confidence to the oil market," the agency said.

"The United States will put 30 million barrels on the market from next Tuesday", US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said.

"The United States welcomes this historic and unanimous decision by the member countries of the IEA. Of course, we are an important member of that organization," he said.

"This is a demonstration of the kind of solidarity and support, and I believe it is an appropriate response to the disruption that is currently occurring as a result of the hurricane that we are dealing with," he said.

News of the move prompted a sharp drop in oil prices yesterday. In New York, crude prices fell $1.77 a barrel, or 2.6 per cent, to $67.70. They peaked at $70.85 on Tuesday. US petrol prices also eased. In the UK, pump prices broke through 92p for the first time on Thursday to hit 92.29p after a rise of almost a penny a litre on Wednesday night. Diesel prices reached 95.8p, according to the AA Motoring Trust.