Germany's upper house clears further release of oil stocks

FRANKFURT, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Germany's upper house of parliament on Friday cleared the way for the further release of strategic oil reserves, as the government seeks to fulfil an international pledge to help soothe energy markets.

In line with economy ministry plans, the vote in the Bundesrat, which represents Germany's states, allows for mandatory stockpiles of crude oil and petroleum products to be temporarily reduced to 82 days of supply from 90 days.

• The move follows through on commitments by Berlin under international agreements to release oil reserves in March and earlier this month

• Two weeks ago, Group of Seven countries agreed to release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude oil from emergency reserves and pledged to refrain from energy export restrictions after pressure from US President Donald Trump

• The Iran war triggered the largest emergency oil stock release on record in March, with 400 million barrels released in a coordinated action by the International Energy Agency

• The upper house's vote clears the release of about 16 million barrels of oil and petroleum products

(Reporting by Holger Hansen
Writing by Ludwig Burger
Editing by Emanuele Berro)

((ludwig.burger@thomsonreuters.com))