With oil prices up approximately 70% year-over-year at the $120 per barrel mark, John Hess, CEO of exploration and production company Hess Corporation, told CNBC that the International Energy Agency should announce major releases of crude from strategic petroleum reserves.
Hess advocates the release of 120 million barrels of crude from strategic reserves this month and another 120 million barrels in April in order to cushion markets, which are beginning to see shortages due to plummeting Russian exports.
Hess’ statements come as IEA members committed to releasing 60 million barrels last week, an insufficient quantity to change market dynamics according to the Hess Corporation CEO.
“The United States and the IEA need to act quickly to avoid an economic recession that’s coming on us,” Hess said. “They’ve got to get ahead of it.”
The US government has said it is exploring how to ban Russian oil exports. Russia’s principal market is China, followed at a distance by the Netherlands and Germany.
