The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) member countries continue to hold substantial emergency oil stocks in reserve despite carrying out the largest coordinated release of strategic reserves on record, the agency said on Tuesday.

According to the IEA, about 290 million barrels of oil have been released by member countries since the initiative was announced on March 11. Even after these releases, the agency said its members collectively retain more than 1 billion barrels of emergency oil stocks in reserve. The record release forms part of the IEA’s agreement to make 400 million barrels of oil available from strategic stockpiles following a surge in global crude prices triggered by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday as markets weighed reports of mediation efforts against fresh U.S.-Iran attacks, alongside threats by Yemen’s Houthi movement to impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia.

Commenting on supply conditions, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the agency estimates that Gulf exports remain below their late-June highs but are still considerably higher than the levels recorded between early March and mid-June. On the demand side, the outlook was weighed down by weak import data from China. The world’s largest crude importer saw its June crude oil imports slump by 41.3%, falling to their lowest level in almost a decade.