International Energy Agency

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IEA Logo
IEA Logo

The International Energy Agency (IEA, or AIE in Romance languages) is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization founded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the oil crisis. The IEA was initially dedicated to preventing disruptions in the supply of oil, as well as acting as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and other energy sectors. Recently, they have expanded their mandate to include energy security, economic development, and environmental protection. The latter has focused on mitigating climate change.[1] They have a role in promoting and developing alternate energy sources, rational energy policies, and multinational energy technology co-operation. Until recently, it did not study nuclear power in detail, except as a contribution to the overall energy balance and economy. Nuclear power is also covered by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD and the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations.

IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports. At the end of June 2007, IEA member countries held a combined stockpile of almost 4.1 billion barrels of oil, 1.5 billion of which governments control for emergency use. Almost 1.6 billion barrels were held in the form of petrol products which need no further processing.[2]

The Executive Director of the IEA is Nobuo Tanaka.

Contents

[edit] Intervention history

  • In 1991 Gulf War.
  • In 2005 IEA released two million barrels a day for a month after Hurricane Katrina affected USA production.

[edit] Member States

Only OECD member countries can become members of the IEA.

Map of members
Map of members
Current Membership:
Flag of Australia Australia
Flag of Austria Austria
Flag of Belgium Belgium
Flag of Canada Canada
Flag of the Czech Republic Czech Republic
Flag of Denmark Denmark
Flag of Finland Finland
Flag of France France
Flag of Germany Germany
Flag of Greece Greece
Flag of Hungary Hungary
Flag of Ireland Ireland
Flag of Italy Italy
Flag of Japan Japan
Flag of South Korea South Korea
Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg
Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands
Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
Flag of Norway Norway
Flag of Portugal Portugal
Flag of Slovakia Slovakia
Flag of Spain Spain
Flag of Sweden Sweden
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland
Flag of Turkey Turkey
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Flag of the United States United States

On 7 March 2007, the IEA invited Slovakia to become member of the IEA. To become a member, Slovakia had to complete the internal procedures to accede to the Agreement on an International Energy Program (I.E.P. Agreement), which is the IEA's founding document. This has been successfully accomplished and Slovakia became a member on 30 November, 2007. On 3 October 2007, a membership invitation was also issued to Poland. Remaining OECD members: Iceland and Mexico are not members of the IEA.

[edit] See also


[edit] References

  1. ^ Environment (HTML). OECD/IEA. Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
  2. ^ IEA Response System for Oil Supply Emergencies (PDF). OECD/IEA. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.

[edit] External links