Bloomberg reports that the International Energy Agency has coordinated the release of 60 million barrels of crude oil from stockpiles around the world, half of it coming from U.S. reserves, in order to lessen supply constraints and bolster a struggling global economy.

Oil tumbled to the lowest price in four months after the International Energy Agency said its members would release crude from strategic reserves.

Oil fell as much as 6 percent as the agency announced the release of 60 million barrels to help make up for a Libyan supply disruption. The IEA said 2 million barrels a day would be available in the first 30 days. Commodities and equities tumbled after U.S. jobless claims rose last week and the Federal Reserve cut its economic growth outlook yesterday.

“The big driver is the IEA number,” said Stephen Schork, president of the Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania. “There’s been a constant string of negative news about the economy and a lack of direction from Washington, which makes for a very volatile market.”

Since it was founded in 1974, this is only the third time that the IEA has taken such an action, the first being the 1991 Gulf War and the second following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said in a statement, “I expect this action will contribute to well-supplied markets and to ensuring a soft landing for the world economy”.

While the former will no doubt improve, I wouldn’t be so sure about the latter…

President Barack Obama promised to get to the bottom of high gas prices by ordering the Justice Department to root out all of the price gougers along with the traders and speculators who don’t seem to care how much it costs them to fill up their tank.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the formation of the Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group, part of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Working Group, a team of Washington’s best regulators who, if they do as good a job on energy markets as they did with the mortgage market a few years ago, offer little hope for lower prices at the pump.

Geez, it’s only mid-April and they’re already paying $5 a gallon for premium in parts of California. While CNBC correspondent Jane Wells appears almost giddy when pointing out these high prices, host Maria Bartiromo emotes real anguish, a combination that, unfortunately, we could see again and again in the months ahead.

The national map at Gasbuddy shows that the average price for regular unleaded in the Golden State is now over $4.10 a gallon – visitors are advised to fill up that rental car before getting within a mile of the airport in order to five or ten dollars.