“The International Energy Agency is closely monitoring developments in the Strait of Hormuz, including the recent seizure of a UK-flagged oil tanker, and stands ready to act if needed.
“The IEA considers that the right of free energy transit is critical to the global economy and must be maintained”, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today in an official communication sent to the media.
IRNA (the Official News Agency of the Republic of iran) informed today theearlier today Iran’s Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei said The UK-flagged tanker Stena Impero has been seized in the Strait of Hurmuz by Iranian coastguards not for retaliation.
“When the good faith in bilateral relations is undermined, the UK cannot expect their #illegal_actions in #Strait_of_Hormuz to be construed optimistically,” Rabiei said on his official Twitter account on Monday. “We hope Britain would restore the trust in Iran-UK ties,” ends Raibei
Again as reported by IRNA, a senior Iranian Ports and Maritime Department official said on Saturday that the UK oil tanker was seized for violation of the International Law of the Sea and ignoring the principle of passage without causing damage to the environment.
“The British vessel hit a trawler, which needs to be investigated,” said the Director-General of the Ports and Maritime Department of Hormuzgan province Allahmorad Afifipour.
Grace 1, a supertanker carrying Iranian oil, was seized earlier this month by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating sanctions on Syria.
Iranian officials strongly reacted against the sizure of Grace 1 as they assured that the tanker carried Iranian Oil, not Syrian oil, IRNA points
Transit route for 20% of oil global supply and a quarter of NG world supply
The official communication continues: “The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime transit route for world energy trade. About 20 million barrels of oil transit each day through the Strait, or about 20% of global supply. It is also the route for around a quarter of global liquefied natural gas trade.
“…IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol is in close dialogue with ministerial counterparts in IEA member and associate governments as well as in other major consuming and producing nations. As usual, the IEA is ready to act quickly and decisively in the event of a disruption to ensure that global markets remain adequately supplied.”
Emergency reserves currently enough to cover any disruptions in oil supply
“Consumers can be reassured that the oil market is currently well supplied, with oil production exceeding demand in the first half of 2019, pushing up global stocks by 900,000 barrels per day. OECD commercial stocks now total more than 2.9 Bn barrels, which is higher than the five-year average”, IEA communication assures informing that “IEA countries hold 1.55Bn barrels of public emergency oil stocks. In addition, 650 million barrels are held by industry under government obligations, and can be released as needed. These IEA emergency stocks are large enough to cover any disruptions in oil supply from the Strait of Hormuz for an extended period.”
Image over the headline.- Image of the British tanker Stena Impero as being seized by Iranian forces at the Strait of Hormutz.© IRNA
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Images of the seizure of the Stena Impero by Iranian forces distributed by IRNA
