The agency, adviser to 28 industrialized countries, decided in June to release 60 million barrels from the reserves, the third such move in its 37-year history. Saudi Arabia and some other producers also raised their output.
A meeting on Wednesday and Thursday of the IEA governing board “concluded that the interrupted Libyan supplies have been successfully addressed by a combination of the IEA collective action and increased production from producer countries, against a backdrop now of weakening expectations for global oil demand growth,” it said.
IEA members are required to hold oil stocks equal to 90 days of consumption. None of them dropped below that level during the release and members will be flexible in re-establishing their stocks through 2011 and 2012, it said.
Oil prices fell around 10 percent in the days following the release but have since recovered, trading at $115 a barrel on Thursday, slightly above the price on June 22.
IEA officials have argued the move, rather than lowering outright prices, resulted in benefits such as increased supplies of high-quality oil reduced by the Libyan conflict.
The oil market supply and demand balance has become more comfortable since June. Libyan output, virtually halted by civil war, is restarting, and the IEA and other forecasters have lowered forecasts for global oil demand growth.
The new executive director of the IEA, Maria van der Hoeven, had said on Sept. 8 the release of oil was a success and there was no plan for a further move.
