The International Energy Agency isn’t planning a coordinated release of emergency oil stockpiles among its 28 member nations, the agency’s chief said.
It is premature to speculate about “unconfirmed rumors” regarding individual inventory releases by member countries, Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said today in an e- mailed statement during an official visit to New Delhi. The Paris-based IEA advises oil-consumer nations including the U.S., Japan, U.K. and Germany on energy policy.
“The IEA was created to respond to serious physical supply disruptions,” Van der Hoeven said. “As no specific supply disruption is currently underway, we are not planning any coordinated actions at the present time.”
IEA nations are required to store enough oil to cover 90 days of imports, and no member countries have consulted the IEA about using their individual stockpiles, Van der Hoeven said. The agency coordinated the release of 60 million barrels of crude and oil products in June after Libyan output was disrupted by the armed uprising against former leader Muammar Qaddafi. The IEA also made supplies available during the 1991 Persian Gulf War and when Hurricane Katrina damaged oil rigs and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico in 2005.
Brent crude has gained 16 percent this year to about $123 a barrel in London, mainly on concern that a conflict involving Iran may choke off oil exports from the Persian Gulf.
Source: Bloomberg