VIENNA, April 20 (Reuters) - Austria released on Monday the first batch of crude from its reserves under a coordinated plan agreed by International Energy Agency member countries last month to counter the impact of the Iran war.
Austria was among the 32 countries that the IEA said last month had agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles, the sixth coordinated stockpile release since the agency's creation n the 1970s.
Austria's economy ministry, which is also in charge of energy, said its first release under that plan was being carried out on Monday in coordination with other countries it did not name, and the involvement of partially state-owned oil company OMV.
"The Austrian share (of the IEA release) totals 325,000 tonnes of crude oil; in an initial phase, OMV will purchase 56,000 tonnes," the ministry said in a statement.
"These volumes will be made available at market prices so that additional volumes come on the market and help stabilise energy markets," it said, adding that the amount being released on Monday was about 2% of Austria's 90-day emergency reserves.
Austria is currently well supplied with oil but will not be immune from any large supply disruption, the government said.
"Austria is not decoupled from the global market. If the international situation does not improve, this will also have an impact on Austria," the statement quoted Economy Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer as saying.
He told reporters last week that reduced fuel deliveries will be felt in Europe as of next month.
Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Susan Fenton
Source: Reuters