The International Energy Agency (IEA) announced on Friday that member countries will release a total of 61.7 million barrels of oil from storage to alleviate the increasing tightness in oil markets due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and provided details on how much each country will contribute to this total.
The 31-member group convened for an extraordinary ministerial meeting on Tuesday, following Russia's military aggression in Ukraine, which raised concerns that the tension would lead to a supply disruption in an already tight market.
Member countries had initially agreed on the release of 60 million barrels of oil from the emergency oil stocks of these countries, however the total pledged amount surpassed it and reached 61.7 million barrels, making it the largest stock release in IEA history, the agency said in a statement.
'The decision taken to release emergency stocks – for only the 4th time in the IEA’s history – has sent a strong message that IEA Members are unified in support of Ukraine and will do all they can to provide stability to the market during these difficult days,' said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
'Events in Ukraine remain deeply distressing and the impacts on energy markets are becoming more pronounced,' Birol, vowing to take additional steps to build on this initial release if required.
IEA member countries hold 1.5 billion barrels in public reserves and about 575 million barrels under obligations with industry.
The initial response of 61.7 million barrels represents just 3% of total emergency reserves, the agency said.
Emergency oil stocks held by IEA member countries are either in the form of public stocks -- government-owned or by specialized agencies--, or stocks held by industry under an obligation of the government.
The public stocks will be released via tenders or loans to the market 'over the coming weeks depending on the specific stockholding system in each country,' the agency added.
The obligations will be lowered for the obligated industry stocks, via legislative decrees or administrative mandates, to make the volumes available for consumption, which the agency said “can take a matter of days.”
The following table shows the breakdown of the oil to be made available by each of the participating countries.
Australia | 1,692 |
Austria | 387 |
Belgium | 258 |
Estonia | 36 |
Finland | 377 |
France | 1,500 |
Germany | 3215 |
Greece | 303 |
Hungary | 266 |
Ireland | 222 |
Italy | 2,041 |
Japan | 7,500 |
Korea | 4,420 |
Lithuania | 115 |
Luxembourg | 109 |
Netherlands | 823 |
New Zealand | 384 |
Norway | 409 |
Poland | 1,052 |
Spain | 2,000 |
Sweden | 551 |
Switzerland | 350 |
Turkey | 1,500 |
United Kingdom | 2,200 |
United States | 30,000 |
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr