Consumers must work with oil powers to tackle crisis

PARIS – World oil powers are the first line of defence to combat an energy crisis, but consumer nations, led by the International Energy Agency, must develop a new role as their allies, experts say.

Set up in the 1970s as a counterweight to OPEC, then at the height of its influence, the IEA now considers itself a collaborator as the producers’ cartel seeks market stability.

“We always try to work together with OPEC to deal with the risk of supply disruption,” Claude Mandil, executive director of the Paris-based IEA, told Reuters.

Analysts praised the IEA, which represents 26 industrialised nations, for its decision last year to release emergency reserves to compensate for lost production and refining capacity following hurricane damage in the U.S. Gulf.

Reuters