The Financial Post reports in its Tuesday, March 24, edition that the International Energy Agency on Thursday confirmed that Canada's commitment toward a global initiative to supply 400 million additional barrels would come from production increases. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that Canada would be the third-largest contributor to the IEA's program, providing about 130,000 additional barrels per day over six months. However, Canadian oil companies plan to take over 300,000 barrels a day offline for maintenance in the spring and 400,000 barrels in the fall, according to Rystad Energy's Taylor Lee. To increase crude production quickly, they would need to postpone existing plans. Some new projects, like an offshore oil venture off Newfoundland by Cenovus Energy, are set to begin this year but are not ready yet. Mr. Lee says: "Maybe in the max case scenario, you could get 200,000 barrels per day, but through deferral of maintenance. These maintenance and deferral periods involve long lead times. Most of these companies have their budget set." So far, none of the major Alberta oil sands companies, including Cenovus, Suncor Energy, CNRL or Imperial Oil, have announced plans to postpone or scale back maintenance.