IEA closely monitoring Strait of Hormuz developments, ready to act if needed

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is closely monitoring developments in the Strait of Hormuz, including the recent seizure of a UK-flagged oil tanker, and stands ready to act if needed, it said on Monday.

Iran said on Friday, July 19, that it had seized a British oil tanker Stena Impero at the Strait of Hormuz as it was not complying with “international maritime laws and regulations.”

The Paris-based agency said that the right of free energy transit is critical to the global economy and must be maintained.

Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday amid lingering concerns about possible supply disruptions in the Middle East.

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime transit route for world energy trade. About 20 million barrels of oil, or about 20 percent of global supply, transit each day through the Strait, the IEA said.

“The IEA is ready to act quickly and decisively in the event of a disruption to ensure that global markets remain adequately supplied,” it said, noting that its executive director, Dr Fatih Birol, is in close dialogue with ministerial counterparts in IEA member and associate governments as well as in other major consuming and producing nations.

“Consumers can be reassured that the oil market is currently well supplied, with oil production exceeding demand in the first half of 2019, pushing up global stocks by 900,000 barrels per day,” the statement read.

IEA countries hold 1.55 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks. In addition, 650 million barrels are held by industry under government obligations, and can be released as needed.

These IEA emergency stocks are large enough to cover any disruptions in oil supply from the Strait of Hormuz for an extended period.