Iran oil supplies vulnerable, as tensions mount in Middle East - IEA

The International Energy Agency has warned that oil supplies from Iraq, the Middle East’s second-biggest producer, are vulnerable amid rising political risks in the country and the broader region.

IEA stressed that, though hostilities had faded the threat of escalation still menaces Iraq, which was already grappling with domestic protests that spread to its oil-rich southern region.

Iraq’s oil exports have doubled during the last decade to reach 4 million barrels a day, with half these volumes flowing to China and India, the two major centres of global demand growth, the Paris-based IEA said in its latest monthly report.

The country relies heavily on shipping crude through the Strait of Hormuz which Iran has periodically threatened to close.

The Agency said the clash between Washington and Tehran has not caused any supply disruption yet and protests inside Iraq have had only minimal impact on oil operations, as global oil markets have a solid base of ample inventories and swelling U.S. shale-oil output to weather any shocks.

Iraq’s fragile security situation may limit its plans to expand oil production capacity in the medium-term, making it difficult for the global industry to meet rising demand in the second half of the decade, the IEA warned.

The Agency advises most major economies on energy policy, as Baghdad is obligated to reduce output in the coming months as part of its agreement with fellow OPEC nations to keep world markets in balance.

Baghdad pumped 4.59 million barrels per day last month, and will need to reduce by 130,000 barrels a day to comply with the accord.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, already delivered all of the additional curbs promised before they formally took effect, pumping 9.68 million barrels a day in December.

“Even if OPEC and its allies fully implement the deeper cutbacks announced last month, world markets will still face a surplus of about 800,000 barrels a day in the first half of the year” IEA averred.

Daily Times had earlier reported that crude prices briefly soared to a three-month high above $70 a barrel, last week as tensions between the U.S. and Iran erupted in neighbouring Iraq, where America assassinated an Iranian general and Tehran struck U.S. military bases in response.