New Delhi, March 13 -- A group representing many of the world's wealthiest countries agreed Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the effects of the Iran war on energy markets and the halt of cargo shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The International Energy Agency said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members' emergency reserves, which is more than double the 182.7 million barrels that the IEA's 32 member countries released in 2022 in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"This is a major action aiming to alleviate the immediate impacts of the disruption in markets," said Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based IEA. "B...