IEA Executive Director Birol said the first release from strategic petroleum reserves in March totaled 400 mln barrels of crude, equal to 20% of reserves, leaving 80% remaining.

Former Pentagon deputy assistant secretary of defense Michael Mulroy said a new U.S. sanctions package is designed to reach well beyond Iran, using secondary sanctions on countries, institutions and entities that trade with or process financial transactions for Iran. He said Washington is also targeting shadow tanker fleets and other infrastructure used to smuggle Iranian oil and evade sanctions. Mulroy warned the measures are unlikely to overthrow the Iranian regime but will inflict major damage on Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by cutting off funding. He linked the choice of sanctions over military escalation to U.S. domestic timing ahead of the midterm elections and said the confrontation could escalate to military action if Iran attacks regional allies or U.S. targets.

Moody's upgraded Pakistan's credit rating to B3 from Caa1.