International Energy Agency (IEA)

What Is the International Energy Agency (IEA)?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an international intergovernmental organization that was laid out in 1974. Its stated command is to keep up with the stability of the international oil supply, although its mission has expanded in recent years to stress the promotion of renewable energy sources.

How the International Energy Agency (IEA) Works

The IEA operates inside the more extensive structure of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). Established in 1974, following the 1973 oil crisis, the IEA's original mission was to assist with preventing any large-scale disruptions in the international supply of oil, as well as to act as a scene for international research and collaboration connected with energy security issues all the more generally.

One of the flagship programs of the IEA has been the International Energy Program, according to which its members agree to keep large stocks of oil to supply answer any future unanticipated disruption in the oil.

Under this agreement, IEA member nations are required to store the equivalent of no less than 90 days' worth of oil, measured according to their previous year's net oil imports.

In the last couple of years, the IEA has been censured for failing to accurately forecast the speed at which renewable energy sources have proliferated throughout the world. Sun based energy production, for instance, has increased at a rate unfathomably greater than that projected by the IEA.

In the event of a sudden disruption to supply, the IEA can help coordinate among its member nations, who could increase supply by releasing a portion of their oil reserves.

Different measures that the IEA can take to assist with restoring supply incorporate advising on interventions, for example, fuel rationing, public relations, and effort to encourage lighter fuel use, driving limitations, and the coordination of efforts to bring extra fuel production facilities online.

Different Functions of the International Energy Agency (IEA)

Besides the fact that the IEA guarantees a consistent supply of oil throughout the world yet it likewise tries to "prompt governments on developing, implementing, and measuring the impact of effectiveness policies."

Given the unavoidable threat of climate change, the IEA centers around ways of reducing climate change and some other negative impacts on the environment through different initiatives, like the Global Fuel Economy Initiative.

The IEA additionally gives significant measures of data and policy examinations on energy in conjunction with numerous different organizations, like the G-20, the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF), and the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC).

The IEA has 30 member countries, 8 association countries, and 3 promotion countries.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in real life

Generally, the IEA is planned to act as a preventative measure, coordinating its member nations ahead of time so that large-scale oil disruptions are less inclined to happen. Nonetheless, there have been occasions where the IEA was forced to mediate in the oil supply chain since its founding in 1974.

The latest of these interventions happened in 2011 when Libya's oil supply was seriously disturbed due to its civil war. The IEA additionally mediated in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated the offshore oil infrastructure of the Gulf of Mexico. One more intervention was additionally made in 1991 when Middle Eastern oil supplies were disturbed during the First Gulf War.

In these measures, every country's relative contribution of oil was calculated in light of its share of total oil consumption during the previous year. As such, countries that are most dependent on international oil imports are expected to make the largest contribution toward maintaining the world's supply of oil.

Highlights

• It was established in response to the 1973 oil crisis, in which the supply chain for oil briefly separated.
• The IEA has made three interventions in recent years: in 1991, 2005, and 2011. In each example, IEA member countries let oil out of their national reserves to assist with addressing a brief disruption in supply.
• In recent years, the IEA has additionally centered around renewable energy and initiatives zeroed in on environmental protection and stopping climate change.
• The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an organization dedicated to maintaining a consistent supply of oil throughout the world.