Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Major oil supply disruptions
Suez Crisis
Six Day War
Arab-Israeli war and Arab oil embargo
Iranian revolution
Outbreak of Iran-Iraq war
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait
Iraqi oil export suspension
Venezuelan strike
War in Iraq
Hurricane Katrina
Gross peak supply loss (mb/d)
Source: International Energy Agency
Apart from taking part in IEA-coordinated action, the US has only
drawn on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on one other occasion. In 2000
the Clinton administration authorised the temporary release of some oil,
on the condition that the same amounts were subsequently returned to
the SPR, in order to “cool” the rise in the oil price.
The action had the desired effect of dampening the oil price. But Bill
Clinton's action was criticized by his successor as playing politics with an
SPR that was only supposed to be used in case of a physical shortfall in the
oil supply. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, and
in the context of his war on terror, President George W. Bush started to fill
the SPR further, up to a maximum of one billion barrels.
The European Union and gas storage
Of the 27 EU member states, 19 are members of the IEA and some of the
rest will join in due course. (In order to join the IEA, countries first have
to belong to its parent body, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development, the Paris-based club of market-oriented economies.)
The EU has its own legislation on oil stocks (which is important for the
