IEA to Release 400 Million Oil Barrels to Cut Prices: Trump

US President Donald Trump (AP)

Trump said the record release of oil would help stabilise global energy supplies and bring down prices

Kentucky: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday (local time) said that the International Energy Agency (IEA) has agreed to coordinate the release of 400 million barrels of oil from national petroleum reserves worldwide in a bid to reduce prices amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran.

Addressing a gathering in Kentucky, Trump said the record release of oil would help stabilise global energy supplies and bring down prices. “I’m pleased to report that earlier today, the International Energy Agency agreed to coordinate the release of a record 400 million barrels of oil from various national petroleum reserves around the world, which will substantially reduce the oil prices, as we end this threat to America and this threat to the world,” he said.

He added that the coordinated move was aimed at maintaining steady energy supplies while the United States continues military operations linked to the ongoing conflict. “My administration is also working to keep the oil flowing all over,” Trump said.

Trump also claimed that US forces had targeted Iranian naval capabilities in the Gulf region to prevent disruptions to maritime shipping routes. “We have knocked out 58 naval ships. We knocked out their navy,” he said.

He further said that US forces destroyed multiple Iranian mine-laying vessels allegedly intended to threaten commercial shipping. “They also knocked out the mine layers. They put mines in the water. Lovely job. We knocked out 31 of them,” he added.

Trump stated that the US military used weapons systems previously deployed against maritime drug trafficking networks. “I said, ‘Why did you use the weapon that we use on the drugs that come in by sea?’ Do you know that drug shipments by sea are down by 98 per cent? I said, ‘That’s a hell of a weapon.’ They said, ‘We’ll give it a shot.’ It worked very well,” he said.

He added that Washington intends to continue operations until its objectives are achieved. “We don’t want to leave early, do we? We got to finish the job, right?” Trump said.

Earlier, Trump said the United States carried out a military strike against Iran under an operation named “Epic Fury”, claiming the action was aimed at eliminating threats posed by what he described as a “terrorist regime”.

Describing how the operation was named, Trump said he selected “Epic Fury” from a list of around 20 names presented by US military generals. “I saw ‘Epic Fury’ and said, ‘I like that name,’” he said.

“They gave me like 20 names, and I’m like falling asleep, I didn’t like any of them. Then I see Epic Fury. I said, ‘I like that name. I like that name,’” he added.

( Source : ANI )