Work From Home, Avoid Air Travel to Deal With Higher Energy Prices, IEA Says

PARIS, March 20 (Reuters) – The International Energy ⁠Agency (IEA), ⁠which this month agreed ⁠a record release of oil from strategic ​stockpiles to deal with the effects of the U.S-Israeli war with ‌Iran, outlined on Friday proposals ‌to ease oil price pressures on consumers, such as ⁠working-from-home ⁠and avoiding air travel.

The U.S-Israel war with Iran has driven ​up energy prices, causing concerns over inflation across the world.

The IEA said its proposals were actions that governments, businesses and households could ​take to ease the pain on consumers from the recent ⁠spike up ⁠in energy prices.

The ⁠IEA ​said such proposals included working from home, reducing highway speed limits by ​at least 10 ⁠kilometres per hour, and avoiding air travel if other means of transport were available.

“We have recently launched the largest ever release of IEA emergency oil stocks – and I am in ⁠close contact with key governments around the world, including major energy ⁠producers and consumers, as part of our international energy diplomacy,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a statement.

“In addition to this, today’s report provides a menu of immediate and concrete measures that can be taken on the demand side by governments, businesses and households to shelter consumers from the impacts of this crisis,” added ⁠Birol.

The IEA agreed on March 11 to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to combat the spike in global crude prices, with the ​U.S. contributing the bulk of the supply.

(Reporting by ​Sudip Kar-Gupta;Editing by John Irish)

Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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