Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), says the agency is prepared to act if necessary to address potential impacts on global energy supply following the Israel-Iran conflict.
On Friday, Israel launched a barrage of strikes against oil-rich Iran, sparking Iranian retaliation and raising worries about a disruption in Middle East oil supplies.
Following the development, global oil price jumped over 7 percent for the first time in over four months.
Commenting on the development in a statement, Birol said the IEA “is actively monitoring the impact on oil markets from the Israel-Iran situation”.
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“Markets are well supplied today, but we’re ready to act if needed,” the IEA boss said.
“The IEA oil security system has over 1.2 bln barrels of emergency stocks & has proved vital to safeguarding the world economy.”
Countering Birol’s stance in a separate statement, Haitham Al-Ghais, secretary-general of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said there are currently no developments in supply or market dynamics that “warrant unnecessary measures”.
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According to Al-Ghais, the statement by Birol “raises false alarms” and “projects a sense of market fear”.
“Today’s statement in social media by the IEA executive director regarding current market conditions and potential use of oil emergency stocks, raises false alarms and projects a sense of market fear through repeating the unnecessary need to potentially use oil emergency stocks,” the OPEC boss said.
“Similar assessments made in previous cases, most recently in 2022, contributed to higher market volatility and led to premature stock releases that ultimately proved unnecessary.”
Al-Ghais said it is important that commentary on market conditions be grounded in verified data and sound analysis, “especially during sensitive geopolitical situations”.
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