Will this month’s oil crunch push the IEA to release more oil reserves? (CNBC)
The oil and LNG supply shock is set to worsen in April, IEA Chief Fatih Birol warns, and the agency is again considering dipping into its oil reserves. Why this month is different: In March, ships carrying oil and gas were still in transit from the Strait of Hormuz—with that cushion gone, he predicts that April’s oil loss will be 2X worse that of March.
Brent crude rose over 60% in March alone, its biggest monthly jump since records began in the 1980s. The IEA released a record 400M barrels from strategic reserves last month, but Birol said it’s just a band-aid—not a cure.
New supply is trickling in: FERC approved Golden Pass LNG’s request to kick off exports at the Texas terminal…just two days after first production. When fully up and running, the $10B QatarEnergy-Exxon joint venture is set to ship 18M mT/year.