Novak says scope for further oil reserve releases is nearly exhausted

The scope to release additional oil reserves to stabilize the global market is nearly exhausted, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told interviewer Marina Kim.

Countries still hold stocks beyond volumes already approved for release, but some represent minimum inventories and strategic reserves, he said. Novak argued that drawing down those additional volumes would harm the countries that built them.

He estimated the supply shortfall following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz at 4–6 million barrels a day. The Middle East crisis had left the market short of a cumulative 2.2 billion barrels, according to his assessment.

If supplies from Gulf countries resume, restoring market balance could take a year to a year and a half, Novak forecast.