PARIS: The International Energy Agency (IEA) says its member countries are prepared to tap deeper into their emergency oil reserves if global markets need more help, with a special focus on diesel, which is in short supply, reported by Arab News.
Fatih Birol, the IEA’s director, said in a statement on Wednesday that member states still hold large stocks of both crude oil and refined products. “We are ready to release more of these stocks to the market if and when required,” he said.
The move follows a decision by G7 nations, working with the IEA, to immediately release 100 million barrels of diesel and crude last Friday. The step was meant to calm energy markets shaken by the US-Iran war, which has disrupted supplies and damaged refineries in key regions.
Although more crude is now moving through the Strait of Hormuz, refinery outages in the Middle East and Russia have created bottlenecks for refined fuels, especially diesel. In response, IEA members have agreed to prioritize releasing diesel from their stockpiles “to the extent possible,” Birol said.
So far, 325 million barrels have been released from strategic reserves, out of a 400 million barrel pledge made in March. Even after these withdrawals, IEA countries still hold about 1.1 billion barrels in public emergency stocks, including more than 200 million barrels of diesel.
Still, some industry leaders warn that global buffers are thinner than they appear. Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, said on Monday that oil stockpiles are “scarily thin” because of the war. He cautioned that less than 10 percent of reported reserves are truly available, since much of the reported volume is needed just to keep pipelines, terminals, and refineries running.
The IEA’s latest signal suggests that, despite these concerns, there is still room to ease pressure on diesel markets if needed.
