The International Energy Agency has asked members to speed up delivery of emergency stocks pledged in March, with diesel first. It also wants all members to assess further diesel releases before its October 15 board meeting, as new attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure tighten markets.
The IEA urged members to accelerate emergency stock releases pledged in March, and it wants diesel delivered first. Executive Director Fatih Birol made the call in a statement ahead of the agency's October 15 governing board meeting.
Birol asks all members to weigh more diesel
Birol called on governments that have yet to fully deliver their share of the March collective action to speed up those releases where possible. He also asked every member, including those that have met their pledges, to assess whether further diesel releases are needed and to set out their size and timing.
Birol pointed to renewed attacks on civilian and energy targets in Saudi Arabia. He said current conditions merit immediate attention and are best handled through cooperation among members.
March pledge still incomplete after seven months
The IEA's 32 members agreed in March to release 400 million barrels from emergency reserves in response to the Iran war, the largest such action in the agency's history. Some pledged volumes remain undelivered seven months later.
Pressure has grown since then. After the Trump administration threatened European countries with a diesel export ban unless they did more to curb record prices, the G7 agreed earlier this month to release as much as 100 million barrels of diesel and crude. European Union members, however, broadly view that deal as putting the March commitments into effect rather than adding new volumes.
Diesel is where the strain sits
The focus on diesel reflects where the strain is greatest. Gulf crude oil exports have largely recovered, but Goldman Sachs estimates that shipments of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel from the region remain around half of normal.
Russia, for its part, partially lifted its diesel export ban over the weekend, clearing 500,000 tons for international buyers after an agreement between Presidents Putin and Trump.
The October 15 board meeting is the next test of whether members can turn pledges into barrels quickly enough to ease record diesel prices, and whether any genuinely new volumes emerge.
Source: Investinglive
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