The United States and other Western countries have agreed to tap their oil reserves for only the third time in history. The U.S. International Energy Agency will release around 60 million barrels over the next month, half of that amount coming from the United States. Democratic Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts called the move a signal to rival oil-producing countries.

Ed Markey: “Because of the reduction in the amount of oil coming in from Libya, because of the amount of oil that’s now been taken off the market in Yemen, this is the right time to strike, to make a statement that we are not going to allow the markets to be disrupted. And that’s a signal to Iran, to Venezuela and others that we are going to fight back, that they will not be able to exploit this opportunity to hold prices high.”