Birol said the meeting discussed all available options, including making the IEA's emergency oil stocks available to the market.
PARIS, March 9 (Xinhua) -- International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Monday that challenges to transit through the Strait of Hormuz and curtailments in oil production are posing significant and growing risks to global oil markets.
Birol made the remarks during a videoconference meeting of G7 finance ministers, held under the French presidency, to assess the consequences of the war in the Middle East involving Israel, the United States and Iran. He attended the meeting at the invitation of French Economy Minister Roland Lescure.
Birol said market conditions have deteriorated in recent days, adding that the meeting discussed all available options, including making the IEA's emergency oil stocks available to the market.
He noted that IEA member countries currently hold more than 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks, with a further 600 million barrels of industry stocks held under government obligation.
IEA member countries are required to ensure oil stock levels equivalent to no less than 90 days of net imports and to be ready to collectively respond to severe supply disruptions affecting the global oil market.
"We are ready to take the necessary measures, including tapping strategic reserves, to stabilize the market," Lescure said after the meeting, but stressed that "we are not there yet."
According to the IEA, oil and natural gas prices have spiked since the start of hostilities. Brent crude futures climbed by 27 percent through March 6, while Dutch TTF, the European benchmark for natural gas, rose by nearly 70 percent. ■
