❗️Global oil stockpiles near stress levels as supply buffer dwindles

Industry executives warned at a forum in London this week that the amount of oil storage readily available to global markets is dwindling, leaving the market more vulnerable to disruptions and increasing upward pressure on prices. Governments and energy companies have been drawing from stockpiles to ease strain on a global oil market facing unprecedented supply disruptions this year.

"Less than 6 billion barrels of commercial inventories remain today, with the vast majority not practically available, so the system is already straining," Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said at the Energy Intelligence Forum. More than 1 billion barrels have been withdrawn, primarily from onshore commercial inventories, since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, Nasser said, describing it as the last major supply buffer available. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is preparing to release 100 million barrels of crude and diesel to ease surging diesel prices, although it remains unclear whether some of the volume will come from its record 400 million-barrel release in March that has yet to reach markets.

"It took a lot of negotiations, but it is 100 million," Nasser said of the IEA decision. "Inventories are reaching a stress level. Only 10% or less is available, that's why they struggle with 100 million barrels." Global oil demand stands at around 102 million barrels per day, according to the IEA.