News
Brian Speaks on RTE News on G7 Oil Release
Good to talk with Brian O'Donovan yesterday on RTE News about the 100 million barrels of diesel and oil released by the G7. The interview is available here (https://lnkd.in/dQx8zxVv).
The G7 countries agreed to a co-ordinated release through the International Energy Agency (IEA) of 100 million barrels of strategic oil reserves over the next four weeks, including frontloading diesel in particular within the first 20 days.
To put this 100 million barrels quantity into context, the blockade at the Strait of Hormuz is blocking between 15-20 million barrels per day which is restricting the supply of oil and causing the recent surges in the price of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and home heating oil.
So, the release of 100 million barrels is significant but it is really a short term measure. To dampen down the prices of oil would require the US and Israel stop the attacks on Iran and enable the re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz to free up the flow of oil.
The blocking of oil tankers is not the only problem however as the the attacks on both sides have included attacks on infrastructure. This reduces the ability to refine the crude oil into the oil products that we use, namely petrol, diesel and kerosene. Reparing and reinstating the refining capacity will take time that will maintain the upward pressure on fuel prices.
In terms of what we can do in Ireland, we can plan to reduce and phase out our dependence on oil, which is causing really negative impacts thorugh the resulting cost of living crisis. There will be a significant focus in the budget next week on measures to dampen down the effects of the rising oil prices, but these are directly linked to our dependence on oil. If we wean ourselves off oil, it puts us in a much stronger position to be able to plan more rationally going forward in terms of our energy costs and energy affordability. For more on fossil fuel phase out see here (https://lnkd.in/dF5D-qHx)