International Energy Agency

Founded in response to the oil shortage of 1973 - 1974, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) was initially formed to provide Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with a response mechanism in case of future oil crises. Over time, the IEA's mandate has broadened to include focus on "climate change policies, market reform, energy technology collaboration and outreach to the rest of the world, especially major consumers and producers of energy like China, India, Russia and the OPEC countries".¹ IEA member countries are required to maintain petroleum reserves equal to at least 90 days of net imports; as of July, 2007, member countries held combined stockpiles equivalent to almost 4.1 billion barrels.²

Interventions

Notable past interventions on the part of the IEA include:

Intervention during the 1991 Gulf War (cite needed).
In 2005, release of 2 million barrels/day of oil in response to Hurricane Katrina.³
In August 2008, the IEA announce that it would release strategic reserves if Hurricane Gustav caused significant damage to the oil supply chain.⁴

Member Countries

Membership in the IEA is open only to members of the OECD. At present, 28 of the 30 OECD countries are also members of the IEA, with only Iceland and Mexico belonging to the OECD but not the IEA.⁵