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Oil Reserves
the International Energy Agency on Sunday said its member countries in Asia and Oceania plan to release emergency stocks of oil "immediately" and that reserves from Europe and the Americas "will be made available starting from the end of March". "This emergency collective action, by far the largest ever, provides a significant and welcome buffer," it said in a statement. The Paris-based agency is helping to coordinate the international effort to lower prices. The IEA announced Wednesday that it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from members' emergency reserves - more than double the 182.7 million barrels that the IEA's 32 countries released in 2022 in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The IEA's update on Sunday said its members have so far committed to making available a total of nearly 412 million barrels from government, industry and other stocks - of which 72% will be crude oil and the rest as oil products.
India holds about 100 million barrels of commercial crude oil stocks - in storage tanks, underground strategic reserves and on ships voyaging towards the country - which could cover roughly 40-45 days of its requirement if flows through the Strait of Hormuz are disrupted, according to Kpler. India imports about 88 per cent of the crude oil it needs - the raw material for fuels such as petrol and diesel - with more than 50 per cent supplied by Middle Eastern countries and transiting the narrow Strait of Hormuz, flows from which have been disrupted amid the Iran crisis. If Middle Eastern crude supply were to halt completely for a temporary period, the immediate impact would be logistical and price-driven, with supply risks intensifying if movement through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted for longer, said Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst, Refining & Modeling at Kpler. A closure of Strait of Hormuz would at first impact prompt cargo liftings. "However, refiners typically maintain
Kuwait's ruling emir, the 86-year-old Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, has died, state television reported Saturday. Kuwait TV broke into programming with Quranic verses just before making the announcement. In late November, Sheikh Nawaf was rushed to hospital for an unspecified illness. In the time since, the tiny, oil-rich nation had been waiting for news about his health. State-run news previously reported that he traveled to the United States for unspecified medical checks in March 2021. The health of Kuwait's leaders remains a sensitive matter in the Middle Eastern nation bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which has seen internal power struggles behind palace doors. Sheikh Nawaf was sworn in as emir following the 2020 death of his predecessor, the late Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. The breadth and depth of emotion over the loss of Sheikh Sabah, known for his diplomacy and peacemaking, was felt across the region. Sheikh Nawaf previously served as Kuwait's interior and defense .