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The UK is required as a member state of the EU and of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to hold stocks of oil for use in the event of disruption of global supply.
The UK meets the obligation by directing companies to hold the stocks as part of their commercial stocks.
The UK's obligation will increase gradually from about 2016 as a result of falling domestic oil production and increased oil imports.
After a consultation on the future of Compulsory Stocking Obligations for oil to establish a new system to ensure that the UK can continue to meet its obligations in the long term, we are changing the basis of the system so that obligations are based on product from refineries or entering the UK as imports.
Draft guidelines on how this system will operate and the Regulatory Impact Assessment on the system agreed by Ministers can be found below:
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