UK release will be a voluntary one of up to 1.5 million barrels
The oil reserve releases from the US, China, India, Japan and South Korea were all well-telegraphed but the surprise name on the list was the UK, which hadn't been mentioned.
However the UK barrels are negligible. Argus reports that it will be a voluntary release from UK companies of up to 1.5 million barrels, citing the UK department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Oil is now green on the day, which is going to be an embarrassment for this charade.
To be clear, this is up to 1.5 million barrels in a global market that burns 100 million barrels per day. Add in the flimsy and repackaged pledges elsewhere and it's at most a half day's global demand. It's a finely-balanced market but the only long term solution is drilling more or curbing demand.