Switzerland stopping short of releasing oil reserves, says president
Swiss President Guy Parmelin says there is currently no serious oil shortage in Switzerland. The government is therefore not yet heeding the International Energy Agency’s call to release its oil reserves, he told the press on Friday.
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Switzerland stopping short of releasing oil reserves, says president
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“The International Energy Agency has called on its member states to voluntarily release oil reserves,” said Parmelin, who is also the economics minister. However, the government can only release Switzerland’s reserves in the event of a serious shortage. “There is therefore no legal basis for responding actively to the current appeal.”
On the other hand, the reserves could theoretically be released to fulfill international obligations, even if there is no threat of, or actual, shortage domestically, said Parmelin.
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The easing of sanctions against Russia due to the sharp rise in oil prices was not a topic of discussion at Friday’s meeting of the Federal Council, the executive body, said Vice-Chancellor Nicole Lamon in response to a query from news agency Keystone-SDA.
In response to the war in Iran, the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided on Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of crude oil. The move is intended to stabilise markets strained by the war. The IEA has 32 member states, including Switzerland.
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Switzerland has mandatory reserves that can be released if necessary. According to the government, these are held by the companies trading in the products.
For petroleum products, they cover national demand for 4.5 months; for aviation fuel, the figure is three months, a spokesperson said. This corresponds to around 14.5 million barrels of petrol and diesel, as well as around 8.6 million barrels of heating oil, and 2.4 million barrels of aviation fuel.
Translated from German with AI/gw
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