- Hezbollah strikes Israel, says it foiled Israeli incursions
- Jurgen Klopp to return as head of Red Bull football operations
- Sinner to face Medvedev in Shanghai Masters quarter-finals
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Record-breaking Root guides England to 232-2 in reply to Pakistan's 556
- Japan PM dissolves parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- Goodbye Tito? Tomb at risk as Serbs argue over Yugoslav legacy
- Restoration experts piece together silent Sherlock Holmes mystery
- Sinner avoids Shanghai deja vu with assured Shelton win
- Pyongyang to 'permanently' shut border with South Korea
- Trumpet star Marsalis says jazz creates 'balance' in divided world
- No children left on Greece's famed but emptying island
- Nepali becomes youngest to climb world's 8,000m peaks
- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
IEA urges 'emergency measures' to cut oil use over supply fears
The International Energy Agency on Friday urged governments to urgently implement measures to cut global oil consumption within months following supply fears stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The IEA also called on the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia and Russia to help "relieve the strain" on markets, while warning that the world faced the biggest shock to supply "in decades".
The outbreak of war in Ukraine has sent prices for the fuel up sharply and led to major economies, such as the United States and Canada, sanctioning Russia by banning imports of oil.
The IEA warned earlier this week of the risk of a global supply crisis as major oil companies, trading houses, shipping firms and banks have shunned Russia.
With the threat that supplies of Russian oil could be cut even more, "there is a real risk that markets tighten further and oil prices escalate significantly in the coming months" as the world enters its peak demand season, the IEA said.
"As a result of Russia's appalling aggression against Ukraine, the world may well be facing its biggest oil supply shock in decades, with huge implications for our economies and societies," IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
- US pressures OPEC -
Increases in supply of the crucial commodity "would not be able to ease the current strains" after the "disappointing outcome" of a recent monthly meeting of OPEC+, the IEA report concluded.
The OPEC+ group has resisted US pressure to step up production for months, agreeing only to modest increases in output at its regular meetings, even after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The IEA was hoping for "some good messages which could help to relieve the strain on the oil markets" after the group's next meeting on March 31, Birol said at a press conference to present a plan to cut demand.
The 10 proposals put forward by the IEA could cut oil consumption among advanced economies "by 2.7 million barrels a day within the next four months", it said.
The measures, put forward together with the French government, could reduce consumption among those countries by 2.7 million barrels a day, while these currently consume between 44 and 45 million barrels a day, according to IEA estimates.
Together the world's advanced economies account for "around 45 percent of global oil demand", it said.
The proposals, principally targeted at transport, included reducing speed limits, working from home three days a week, car-free Sundays, cheaper public transport and greater use of long-distance trains over planes.
A.Malone--AMWN