THE GOVERNMENT has said violence in Libya poses no short-term risk to energy supplies even though the north African country supplies almost one-quarter of Ireland’s total crude oil imports.
But oil industry officials and retailers have warned petrol prices will rise sharply as a result of the unrest in Libya and fear it could spread across the region.
The Government said last night it is in “regular ongoing dialogue” with oil industry officials. But it downplayed fears over supply shortages, saying “current oil industry stock levels and supply arrangements in Ireland are sufficient to meet ongoing needs”.
Figures released by the International Energy Agency show Ireland is the OECD country most reliant on supplies of crude oil from Libya. Last year, 23.3 per cent of the State’s total crude oil imports were sourced from Libya, which amounts to about 14,000 barrels of oil imported every day.
Imports of crude oil from Libya have surged from 3,000 barrels per day in 2007 to 14,000 in 2010, says the agency. Most of this is imported for the Whitegate refinery near Cork. Ireland is one of the most dependent countries in Europe for imports of energy. It maintains 90 days strategic oil reserves under European rules.
The Irish Petroleum Industry Association, which represents most of the big oil companies, said three-quarters of oil imported to Ireland was already refined while 25 per cent was crude: “Ireland has a very small reliance on Libya for oil and any shortfall can easily be made up from elsewhere. Nevertheless, international uncertainty is causing some volatility in oil prices.”
The Government estimates 8.8 per cent of total imports of oil, which include crude and refined oil products, came from Libya in 2010. The price of oil surged to almost €120 a barrel yesterday on fears the unrest in Libya could spread to other oil countries.
LIBYAN OIL WHO BUYS WHAT
The figures represent the quantity of crude oil imports from Libya expressed in barrels per day, followed by the percentage of the country's total imports that Libyan oil represents.
Ireland 14,000, 23.3%
Italy 376,000, 22%
Austria 31,000, 21.2%
Switzerland 17,000, 18.7%
France 205,000, 15.7%
Greece 63,000, 14.6%
Spain 136,000, 12.1%
Britain 95,000, 8.5%
Germany 144,000, 7.7%
Australia 11,000, 2.3%
Netherlands 31,000, 2.3%
Source: International Energy Agency