The International Energy Agency said the impact of the sanctions and buyers' withdrawal from Russian oil will be fully felt from May, Reuters reports.

The agency said an expected decline in demand in China, increased production from OPEC+ and other producers, and a record release of emergency oil stockpiles by the United States and its IEA member allies should avert a severe shortage.

Global demand is now expected to be balanced with second-quarter supply of 98.3 million barrels per day, the agency added, which could reduce rising energy price inflation. Previously, the market balance was expected to be reached in the fourth quarter.

Some buyers, especially in Asia, have increased purchases of Russian oil, but there are no signs of an increase in purchases from China yet, the IEA added.

The COVID-19 lockdown in China and weaker-than-expected demand in the first quarter, especially in the US, prompted the IEA to lower its global oil demand forecast for the year by 260,000 bpd.

Lower demand expectations and robust production growth from Middle East OPEC+ members, as well as the US and other non-OPEC+ countries, should bring the market back into balance, the IEA said in a statement.

Cumulative OPEC+ production in March was 1.5 million bpd below its target, the biggest shortfall since the producer group imposed cuts in May 2020, the agency said, adding that it expects the deficit to widen .

The United States and other members of the 31-member IEA have committed in recent weeks to jointly release 240 million barrels of oil from emergency storage.