International Energy Agency Director: April oil supply gap will be twice that of March

The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said in a podcast released on Wednesday that the agency is considering whether it needs to urgently release oil reserves again, and urged governments to take other energy-saving measures, such as promoting remote work and lowering vehicle speed limit standards.

Birol, speaking on a program hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway-based investment management company Norges Bank Investment Management, said: “The situation in April will be much more severe than in March.” He said that in March, oil supply benefited from cargoes already en route that were on the way before the outbreak of the Iran war, so conditions were comparatively more manageable. He added: “The oil supply shortfall in April will reach twice that of March.”

Last month, 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency, including the United States, released 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves to bring down crude oil prices— the largest reserve drawdown in the agency’s history.

Birol said: “We are assessing market conditions at a frequency of even daily, or even hourly, to decide whether to take further intervention measures.”

 Open a futures trading account on Sina’s big platform—safe, fast, and guaranteed
![](https://img-cdn.gateio.im/social/moments-05fad19856-1e56d2b390-8b7abd-badf29)

Endless information, precise interpretation— all on the Sina Finance App

Editor: Chen Yu-jia