The agency said about 100 million barrels pledged in March have not yet reached the market. Members backed finishing those releases quickly and putting diesel first. A review is set for next week.
International Energy Agency members agreed on Wednesday to accelerate oil-stock releases announced in March and to prioritise diesel, Reuters reported from Brussels. Executive director Fatih Birol said governments supported completing those releases as soon as possible. The agency said about 100 million barrels pledged in March have yet to reach the market.
Reuters said analysts and some governments cautioned that the 100 million barrel figure was not necessarily a fresh intervention of that size. The IEA did not say how the remaining volume would split between diesel and crude. The National, citing the agency, said about 325 million barrels had already been released under the March agreement and that members still hold about 1.1 billion barrels of emergency stocks, including more than 200 million barrels of diesel.
Birol said members also backed putting diesel first where possible because diesel markets are tight. Wars in Iran and Ukraine have damaged refineries and disrupted tanker traffic, Reuters said, helping push diesel prices to record highs in many markets. Germany said it would join a further release of the volume agreed in March.
Members are due to review the plans at a governing-board meeting next week. Birol said the agency stood ready to release more stocks if required.
No new volume beyond the unfinished March pledge was adopted on Wednesday. The next dated step is the board meeting.
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- Fatih Birol said members supported completing the March releases as soon as possible.
- He said members backed prioritising diesel stocks where possible.