According to Bloomberg, members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 120 million barrels of crude. The 60 million barrels have been included in the 180 million barrels of oil released by the US Department of Energy last week, and the two combined will release 240 million barrels of crude oil from the global strategic energy reserve.

The U.S. Department of Energy said on the 4th that it will release 180 million barrels of oil from war reserves, the first 90 million barrels will be released in May-July, and the remaining 90 million barrels will be released in August-October.

As soon as the news came out, and the Federal Reserve stated that the rate of interest rate hike would be lower than originally planned, oil prices fell immediately, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) falling below the $100 per barrel mark, a drop of nearly 5%.