The West has prepared a contingency plan of oil stockpiles to replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz. The International Energy Agency (IEA) discussed on Thursday an existing plan to release up to 14 million barrels per day of government-owned oil stored in the United States, Europe, Japan and other importers. This scale would be more than five times the size of the biggest release in the agency's history - made in response to Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. This maximum release could be sustained for the amount of oil transported through the Strait of Hormuz in one month. However, analysts say  it's unlikely that Iran will close the Strait of Hormuz.