IEA concerned about hurricane's impact on Mexico oil production

PARIS (AFP) - The International Energy Agency is slightly concerned about the impact on local oil production when Hurricane Dean hits Mexico but believes its passage will not affect global oil markets, an IEA official said on Tuesday.

"What could worry us a bit is that it will pass over Mexican production," William Ramsay, the deputy executive director of the IEA told French radio BFM. "We are not very worried from the point of view of the global market" even if there are "tensions on the market due to the insufficiency of refining capacity and limited production by OPEC," he said.

He said of the two million barrels a day produced offshore in Mexico, "1.5 million barrels a day is on the route of the hurricane."

Hurricane Dean was heading for Mexico with monstrous force on Tuesday ahead of landfall expected within hours, after strengthening into a "potentially catastrophic" category five hurricane.

Ramsay reiterated the IEA's call on OPEC to pump more crude, pointing to the need for stocks. OPEC has consistently resisted frequent calls from the IEA to increase production.

The IEA is an organisation which defends the energy interests of the industrialised countries.