New Delhi, June 10 -- Oil reserves held by the world's 38 wealthiest nations have dropped to their lowest level since 2003, with global inventories draining at record pace as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz cuts off Middle Eastern crude and forces the United States into the role of emergency supplier for global markets, the US Energy Information Administration reported on Tuesday (9 June).

Inventories across the 38 nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which include the US, Canada, Japan, France, the United Kingdom and South Korea, have fallen to levels not seen since 2003, according to USEIA data.

The drawdown is accelerating: global oil inventories are projected to decline by 6.3 million barrels pe...