The International Energy Agency ( IEA) announced Thursday that it is ready to increase oil supply from reserves held by its member countries if Hurricane Rita affects production and supply in the United States.

"If there is a rupture in supplies, I am sure that we will again be able to make a decision very quickly" to release reserves, said Executive Director Claude Mandil.

"We have shown that we are capable of making decisions very quickly. We do not know a lot of things about Rita, if it is going to (cause) damage or not," he said.

"Our strategic reserves are there to provide oil and oil products in case of disruption in supply, which cannot be compensated for by other means, such as increased production," he added.

The Paris-based IEA announced on September 2 that all its IEA member countries would release two million barrels per day for a month from strategic reserves in response to the interrupted oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico caused by Hurricane Katrina.

Grouping 26 industrialized nations with strategic oil reserves, the IEA was established in 1974 after the first oil crisis and seeks to coordinate energy policies in order to avoid supply shocks.

Source: Xinhua