“The Board of Directors of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has adopted a coordinated plan for the withdrawal of oil emergency stocks, in order to achieve a mobilization of stocks up to 60 million barrels”, indicated the Ministry of Energy and Regional Planning in a press release sent Thursday. Blame it on the surge in the price of a barrel and the potentially significant impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the supply of the oil and petroleum product markets.
“Luxembourg (like the majority of IEA member countries, including the United States, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, editor’s note) is taking part in this voluntary joint action aimed at releasing stocks of petroleum security, up to 108.685 kb of petroleum products”. This represents more or less 3% of the national reserves, which amount to 90 days of average consumption. A quantity corresponding to a little less than three days of consumption was therefore sampled. The measure is exceptional, specifies a spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy: “It had not been put in place since the passage of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States in 2005. They had affected production sites” .
“The oil market is a global market. Luxembourg’s participation in the plan to withdraw oil emergency stocks is obvious in order to support the collective action organized by the International Energy Agency. At present, securing the supply of oil and stabilizing prices are a priority for the government”, specified the Minister of Energy, Claude Turmes.
The Minister of Energy also indicated that the Grand Duchy would support “European efforts in favor of the synchronization of the Ukrainian electricity network with the European network”.