The world's top oil consumers decided against releasing more stocks into the market Thursday, despite high prices still threatening to hinder economic recovery, saying they believed producers have started pumping more. The energy watchdog for the industrialized nations, the International Energy Agency (IEA), said not a single one of its 28 members had asked for more oil to be released. That included the United States, which was one of the key designers of the first release a month ago. "The IEA also notes a sharp rise in OPEC oil production... however, a number of uncertainties remain which demand vigilance, notably the duration of the Libyan disruption, the future evolution of OPEC supply as well as the final impact of the stock release itself; much of the oil is only now entering the physical market," the IEA said in a statement. IEA members agreed to release 60 million barrels in emergency stockpiles last month, only the third release in the agency's history, as concern grew in consumer countries that high oil prices were hurting a fragile global economy. Oil prices fell after the release but have since moved higher, raising the possibility the IEA would boost world supplies of oil once again. "No country asked me to release additional barrels," the IEA's executive director, Nobuo Tanaka, said. A decision to release stocks has to be backed by a unanimous decision of the IEA's 28 members, who include the United States, Germany, France, Britain and Japan. Oil prices fell more than 10 percent in the days after the IEA shocked world markets by announcing the emergency release of supplies on June 23. The IEA said Thursday it was not releasing further oil from emergency stockpiles for now, but stood ready to act again if needed. The day before that decision Brent crude was trading around $114 a barrel. Oil prices rose toward $100 a barrel Friday in Asia after European leaders reached an aid deal aimed at stanching Greece's financial crisis. Benchmark oil for September delivery was up 53 cents to $99.66 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose 73 cents to settle at $99.13 on Thursday. In London, Brent crude rose 45 cents to $117.96 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
