OPEC ends reliance on International Energy Agency data

By Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said it will stop using International Energy Agency (IEA) data to assess compliance with production quotas of OPEC member countries.

The decision came after an extraordinary meeting held via videoconference Thursday.

OPEC agreed to replace IEA with consultancy groups Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy as secondary sources while assessing the crude production levels of member countries.

The group said the decision will take effect immediately.

The IEA provides one of the six sets of output numbers that make up OPEC's monthly report's "secondary sources" estimate of oil production.

The IEA and OPEC have been at odds for a while as the latter is under pressure to ramp up its production to cool off rising oil prices and relieve the market amid supply concerns.

The agency also initiated an international move to release 60 million barrels of oil from the emergency reserves of member countries, including the US.