The International Energy Agency (IEA) declared on Monday it has successfully concluded an operation designed to cope with the impact of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico on oil markets.

The move was begun on Sep. 2 by the IEA, under which the IEA member countries had to provide two million barrels of oil per day to the international markets for 30 days, or a total of 60 million barrels.

According to IEA chief Claude Mandil, the decision to end the operation was agreed Thursday by all its 26 member countries since "the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been successfully addressed."

He also said the IEA member countries "will exercise flexibility in re-establishing their emergency stock levels through 2006, noting the need to consider differences in seasonal demand and the possibility of higher maintenance fees for oil refineries."

The IEA is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Paris, which coordinates energy policies between its member countries and pursues the objective of "emergency oil sharing" among its member countries in time of energy crisis.

Source: Xinhua