IEA
could compensate for halt in Iranian crude: director
U.S.
strategic oil reserves
AFP
PARIS
Petroleumworld.com
02 10 06
The International Energy Agency could call on strategic oil reserves
to replace Iranian crude exports "for more than a year and
a half" if Tehran were to cut off supplies, IEA executive
director Claude Mandil told French radio BFM on Thursday.
"If ever, for whatever reason, there was a loss of supplies
from Iran, which represent around 2.7 million barrels per day,
strategic stocks managed by the IEA ... would be able to compensate
for those lost 2.7 million bpd for a year and a half," he
said.
"I therefore say to countries mandated to negotiate with
Iran, I do not know what your plans are, but when you consider
the different options, you do not have to worry about an eventual
loss of Iranian oil because you have the means to deal with it."
Iran is locked in a struggle with western countries over its nuclear
research program and oil markets are concerned that if the United
Nations levies sanctions on the major oil producer it might retaliate
by suspending exports.
On January 31, however, Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh
told reporters in Vienna that Tehran had "no reason"
to halt oil exports and would not mix oil with politics.
"There is no link between the oil and the nuclear issue,"
he said on the sidelines of an OPEC meeting.
The IEA, which seeks to coordinate and monitor energy policies
in its 26 member states, was created in November 1974 amid an
energy crisis that followed the 1973 Yom Kippur war.
IEA members hold almost four billion barrels of crude oil in reserve,
the equivalent of at least 118 days of imports.
AFP
02 09 06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
Send
this story to a friend
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write
to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels
| 
