IEA: Plenty of oil in market despite West Asia turmoil

International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol sought Friday to tamp down fears of a global oil crisis as conflict rages in West Asia, saying there was "plenty of oil in the market."

Addressing reporters in Brussels, Birol said "logistical disruption" from the war was "creating challenges for many countries" but stressed there was more than enough oil in the global market.

Asked whether the IEA was mulling the release of emergency stocks, Birol said "all options are on the table" but that "at this stage" there were no plans for "collective action".


"There is plenty of oil, we have no oil shortage," he said, after a meeting with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and EU commissioners. "There is a huge surplus in the market."

"We are facing a temporary disruption, a logistical disruption," he said.

While Iran has not officially shut off the Strait of Hormuz, shipping through the critical waterway has all but dried up.

Birol acknowledged the current crisis had led to questions in some quarters about whether Europe should once again look at Russia for energy supplies-something he said would be a mistake. "To look (to) Russia as an alternative option for getting gas will be economically and, in my view, politically wrong," he told reporters, describing past over-reliance on Moscow as "one of Europe's historical mistakes".