Source: New Zealand Government
New Zealand will voluntarily release more of its emergency oil stocks as part of additional action by International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries in response to the ongoing global impact on energy security as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, says Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods.
A special meeting held in the early hours of this morning (Sat NZT) of the 31 members of the IEA agreed to take collective action to release additional barrels of oil from global emergency stocks to help offset the loss of Russian oil exports after sanctions were imposed on the nation following the invasion. The size of the release will be disclosed early this week.
“The size of our contribution will be determined in the coming days by the IEA, but New Zealand released 369,000 barrels of oil last month as its part of the initial collective action to release 60 million barrels held by IEA members,” Megan Woods said.
“New Zealand’s membership of the IEA requires it to hold stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net oil and imports. New Zealand buys emergency reserve stocks that are held offshore as part of this obligation and help to manage potential disruptions in the oil market.
“We released slightly more than our allocated share in response to the last collective action and New Zealand again stands ready to play its part to help stabilise world energy markets.
“There has been a great deal of volatility in global oil markets since the invasion and this further action, coupled with the United States’ move to release 180 million barrels of oil over the next six months, will help to provide some certainty to the market,” Megan Woods said.
