Azernews.Az

Akbar Novruz

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International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Tuesday that the renewed hostilities in the Middle East increase concerns regarding the security of oil supply and uncertainty about the market outlook, AzerNEWS reports.

He noted that threats to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait add to the issues already facing the Strait of Hormuz.

Birol said the oil market still benefits from several mitigating factors, including "significant supplies" from Gulf states via alternative routes, increased exports from countries including the United States, Brazil, Venezuela and Kazakhstan, China's reduced imports and the IEA's ongoing emergency stock releases.

However, he warned that commercial inventories continue to fall and that refinery activity and product supplies "have not picked up as much as crude deliveries."