MW: Oil slammed as strategic petroleum reserves to be tapped
Oil prices are being slammed, off 4%, on an emergency meeting of the International Energy Agency in Paris to announce the release of 60 million barrels of oil from global strategic petroleum reserves.
Member countries of the IEA voted on the release.
“Today, for the third time in the history of the International Energy Agency, our member countries have decided to release stocks.” IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said. “I expect this action will contribute to well-supplied markets and to ensuring a soft landing for the world economy.”
The slide in oil CL1Q comes as fresh economic data in the U.S. showed a rise in jobless claims in the latest period.
Dow futures trimmed earlier losses, but are still off nearly 100 points.
