° An oil tanker unloads crude oil at a terminal at the port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province on March 10, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP) / China OUT / CHINA OUT

G7 Energy Ministers met today, at the International Energy Agency (IEA) headquarters in Paris and discussed the situation in global oil and gas markets, which have been significantly affected by the conflict in the Middle East.

Following the assessment of the crisis, they want to make emergency stocks of their oil reserves available to the global market in order to ease the supply disruptions.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol , disclosed this in a statement after the meeting .

IEA member countries currently hold over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government mandates.

About 100 million barrels of oil are consumed globally every day.

The Paris-based IEA was created to coordinate responses to major supply disruptions after the 1973 oil crisis.

“In oil markets, conditions have deteriorated in recent days. In addition to the challenges of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a substantial amount of oil production has been curtailed. This is creating significant and growing risks for the market,” he said.

“I have convened an extraordinary meeting of IEA member governments, which will take place later today to assess the current security of supply and market conditions to inform a subsequent decision on whether to ,” Birol added.

He said the G7 meeting addressed “all the available options, including making IEA emergency oil stocks available to the market”.

Italy’s Environment and Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said that regarding the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, “countries have committed to showing solidarity by using stockpiled reserves in order to compensate for the lack of availability at the global level.”

Crude prices have seen sharp fluctuations due to supply disruptions, jumping 30 percent on Monday to nearly $120 per barrel before retreating later that day.

They fell further on Tuesday, reassured by US President Donald Trump stating Monday that the US-Israel war on Iran was “going to be ended soon”.

Nevertheless risks remain, with Iran vowing earlier Tuesday that not one litre of oil would be exported from the Gulf while the United States and Israel press ahead with their bombardment of the country.

• Photo : People hold placards with an image of Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei in Tehran. Majid Asgaripour/WANA via REUTERS.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei 56, a Shi’ite cleric with a power base among the security forces and their vast business empire, has been declared the new Supreme Leader of Iran.

Iranian state media reports on Monday that large crowds in several cities rally behind the new leader, waving Iranian flags and holding portraits of his father Ali Khamenei, killed by strikes on the war’s first day.

In Isfahan, state TV reported the sound of nearby explosions from apparent airstrikes as loyalists gathered in the historic Imam Square, chanting “God is the Greatest”

In Tehran, a eulogist could be heard singing: “Either death or Khamenei, our blood leads to paradise.”

Politicians and institutions issued pledges of loyalty to the new supreme leader, whose wife, son and mother also died at the start of the U.S.-Israeli air onslaught according to Iranian state media.

“We will obey the commander-in-chief until the last drop ⁠of our blood,” a defence council statement said.

Iranians reached by telephone were divided, with supporters of the authorities hailing the choice as a declaration of defiance and opponents fearful it would dash their hopes for change.

“I am so happy that he is our new leader. It was a slap in the face to our enemies that thought the system will collapse with the killing of his father. Our late leader’s path will continue,” said university student Zahra Mirbagheri, 21, from Tehran.

• President Bola Tinubu. Credit: X

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the postings of 31 career and 34 non-career ambassadors to various countries and the United Nations.

The Senate confirmed the ambassadors-designate last December.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President(Information and Strategy), confirmed the postings, on Friday.

NON CAREER AMBASSADORS / HIGH COMMISSIONERS

1. 1. SENATOR GRACE BENT: LOME-TOGO
2. 2. SEN. ITA ENANG: SOUTH AFRICA
3. 3. IKPEAZU VICTOR: SPAIN
4. 4. NKECHI LINDA UFOCHUKWU: TEL-AVIV, ISRAEL
5. 5. MAHMUD YAKUBU: QATAR
6. 6. PAUL OGA ADIKWU: THE VATICAN CITY HOLY SEE
7. 7. VICE ADMIRAL IBOK-ETE EKWE IBAS: THE PHILIPPINES
8. 8. MR. RENO OMOKRI: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
9. 9. HON. (ENGR.) ABASI BRAIMAH (FMHR): BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
10. 11. MRS. ERELU ANGELA ADEBAYO: PORTUGAL
11. 12. BARR. OLUMILUA OLUWAYIMIKA AYOTUNWA: TOKYO, JAPAN
12. 13. RT. HON. UGWUANYI IFEANYI LAWRENCE: ATHENS, GREECE
13. 15. BARR. CHIOMA PRISCILLA OHAKIM: WARSAW, POLAND
14. 16. AMINU DALHATU: UNITED KINGDOM, UK
15. 17. LT. GEN ABDULRAHMAN BELLO
16. 18 DAMBAZAU: BEIJING, CHINA
17. 19 .HON. TASIU MUSA MAIGARI: GAMBIA
18. 20. OLUFEMI PEDRO: AUSTRALIA
19. 21. BARR. MUHAMMED UBANDOMA ALIYU: ARGENTINA
20. 22. LATEEF KAYODE ARE: USA
21. 23. AMB. JOSEPH SOLA IJI: RUSSIA
22. 24. SEN. JIMOH IBRAHIM: UN PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE
23. 25. FEMI FANI KAYODE: GERMANY
24. 26. PROF. ISAAK FOLORUNSO ADEWOLE. OTTAWA, CANADA
25. 27. AJIMOBI FATIMA FLORENCE (F): AUSTRIA
26. 28. MRS. LOLA AKANDE (F): SWEDEN
27. 29. AYODELE OKE: FRANCE
28. 30.YAKUBU N. GAMBO: SAUDI ARABIA
29. 31. SENATOR PROF. NORA LADI DADUUT: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
30. 32. BARR. ONUEZE CHUKWUJIKA JOE OKOCHA SAN: DUBLIN
31. 33. DR. KULU HARUNA ABUBAKAR: TUNIS, TUNISIA
32. 34. RT. HON. JERRY SAMUEL MANWE: PORT OF SPAIN, T&T

CAREER AMBASSADORS / HIGH COMMISSIONERS

1. AMB. NWABIOLA EZENWA CHUKWUMEKA: COTE D’IV/OIRE
2. BESTO MAIMUNA IBRAHIM: NIAMEY-NIGER
3. MONICA OKWUCHUKWU ENEBECHI: SAO TOME, STP
4. AMB. MOHAMMED MAHMUD LELE: ALGIERS-ALGERIA
5. ENDONI SYNDOPH PAEBI: OUAGADOUGOU-BURKINA FASO
6. AHMED MOHAMMED MONGUNO: CAIRO EGYPT
7. AMB.JANE ADAMS (NEE OKON) MICHAEL (F): KINGSTON-JAMAICA
8. AMB. CLARK-OMERU ALEXANDRA (F): LUSAKA-ZAMBIA
9. CHIMA GEOGGREY LIOMA DAVID: BAMAKO-MALI
10. AMB. ODUMAH YVONNE EHINOSEN: MALABO –E/GUINEA
11. AMB WASA SEGUN IGE: BEIRUT, LEBANON
12. RUBEN ABIMBOLA SAMUEL (F): ROME, ITALY
13. AMB.ONAGA OGECHUKWU KINGSLEY: MAPUTO, MOZAMBIQUE
14. AMB.MAGAJI UMAR: KINSASHA, DR CONGO
15. AMB.MUHAMMAD SAIDU DAHIRU: NEW DELHI-INDIA
16. AMB. ABDUSSALAM HABU ZAYYAD: DAKAR-SENEGAL
17. AMB SHEHU ILU BARDE: ACCRA GHANA
18. AMB.AMINU NASIR: ETHIOPIA
19. ABUBAKAR MUSA MUSA: N’DJAMENA, CHAD
20. AMB. HAIDARA MOHAMMED IDRIS: THE HAGUE-NETHERLANDS
21. AMB.BAKO ADAMU UMAR: RABAT-MOROCCO
22. AMB. SULU GAMBARI OLATUNJI AHMED: MALAYSIA
23. AMB.ROMATA MOHAMMED OMOBOLANLE (F): TANZANIA
24. AMB. SHAGA JOHN SHAMAH: BOTSWANA
25. SALAU, HAMZA MOHAMMED: TEHRAN, IRAN
26. AMB.IBRAHIM DANLAMI: KENYA
27. IBRAHIM ADEOLA MOPELOLA (F): COTONOU-BENIN
28. AMB.AYENI ADEBAYO EMMANUEL: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
29. AMB.AKANDE WAHAB ADEKOLA: BERNE-SWITZERLAND
30. AMB. AREWA (NEE ADEDOKUN) ESTHER (F): WINDHOEK-NAMIBIA
31. AMB.GERGADI JOSEPH JOHN: LIBREVILLE-GABON
32. AMB. LUTHER OGBOMODE AYO-KALATA (F): SIERRA LEONE
33. DANLADI YAKUBU NYAKU : KHARTOUM-SUDAN
34. BELLO DOGON-DAJI HALIRU: BANGKOK, THAILAND

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already received agrément from the United Kingdom for the High Commissioner-designate, Ambassador Aminu Dalhatu. Similarly, France has sent the agrément for Ambassador Ayo Oke.

The Ministry has also conveyed the nominations of the other 62 designated envoys to all the countries concerned, including a request for their agréments in line with standard diplomatic practice.

President Tinubu has directed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately commence the induction programme for the ambassadors-designate and High Commissioners.