Spain to release oil stocks in October, official says, as IEA starts meeting
By Forrest Crellin, Robert Harvey and Pietro Lombardi Oct 15 (Reuters) — Spain will release 4.4 million barrels from strategic reserves in October, an energy ministry official said on Thursday, as the IEA started a meeting expected to clarify details of a release of oil stocks including diesel by its members with the timing and scale of the move in focus. The price of diesel, which powers transport, agriculture and industry, has surged to record highs in many markets as supplies from Russia and the Middle East have fallen, threatening to push inflation and the cost of living higher and adding to pressure on governments. The IEA's board started its meeting to discuss the scale and timing of further stock releases on Thursday. US President Donald Trump had told European Union countries to draw down emergency inventories or face a potential US diesel export ban, as he seeks to lower prices ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Spain said it would release 4.4 million barrels from strategic reserves in October, an energy ministry official said without specifying what products will be released. The release is part of Spain's commitment in March to release oil products equivalent to
By Forrest Crellin, Robert Harvey and Pietro Lombardi Oct 15 (Reuters) — Spain will release 4.4 million barrels from strategic reserves in October, an energy ministry official said on Thursday, as the IEA started a meeting expected to clarify details of a release of oil stocks including diesel by its members with the timing and scale of the move in focus. The price of diesel, which powers transport, agriculture and industry, has surged to record highs in many markets as supplies from Russia and the Middle East have fallen, threatening to push inflation and the cost of living higher and adding to pressure on governments.
The IEA's board started its meeting to discuss the scale and timing of further stock releases on Thursday. US President Donald Trump had told European Union countries to draw down emergency inventories or face a potential US diesel export ban, as he seeks to lower prices ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Spain said it would release 4.4 million barrels from strategic reserves in October, an energy ministry official said without specifying what products will be released. The release is part of Spain's commitment in March to release oil products equivalent to up to 11.5 million barrels of oil.
This is the second release, following an initial release of 3.7 million barrels. The IEA, which coordinates industrialised nations' releases of oil from emergency stocks during severe supply disruptions, launched a record 400-million-barrel withdrawal in March in response to shortages caused by the US-Iran war. Last week, the IEA said accelerating the previously announced releases could rapidly bring another 100 million barrels to market, raising questions over how much genuinely additional supply there could be. IEA chief Fatih Birol on Sunday urged all members to assess whether additional diesel releases would be necessary.
Diesel accounts for almost a fifth of the IEA's publicly held emergency stocks. (Reporting by Forrest Crellin and Robert Harvey, editing by Alex Lawler and Kirsten Donovan) ((alex.lawler@tr.com)