Key European Union countries have already stopped buying Iranian oil, said Didier Houssin, IEA director of energy markets and security, which shows that the EU can cope with Iran’s claim that it has halted exports to British and French companies ahead of the EU’s July 1 embargo. “We don't think this announcement will have a real impact on the market, because France and the UK have already stopped buying crude from Iran," he said, noting that demand for crude typically declines at the end of the Northern Hemisphere winter. “If such a move were taken by Iran to immediately stop all their exports to the EU, we don't think it would have a very significant impact on the market,” he said [corrected from report], adding, "We are monitoring the situation carefully as we usually do. We stand ready to react if needed."

Russian energy exports are enjoying a boom, based on sustained demand from Asian markets, that highlights how critical it is for the country to invest about $100 billion to expand and improve the sector, IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said in an interview in Moscow. He also noted, "The most important thing for Russia is to try and use energy much more efficiently."

The IEA will canvass ideas for its regulatory recommendations about unconventional extraction of shale gas, including so-called fracking, at a workshop it is organising for March 7, 2012, in Warsaw. The recommendations will be issued in a study report in May, as an excerpt from the IEA’s annual flagship publication, the World Energy Outlook, that comes out in November. IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol said governments must address serious environmental problems that include water pollution and methane-gas venting linked to production and extraction of unconventional gas. “We hope the G-20 will consider the [regulatory] recommendations during their deliberations in Mexico this year and discuss what can be done to address these challenges,” he said. He added that new regulation based on the recommendations may give a slight increase in the cost of production, but the good news is that existing technology can minimize or completely address these real environmental problems.”