The ongoing conflict involving Iran, the United States, and Israel is driving what may become the most severe energy crisis in history, the International Energy Agency (IEA) chief has cautioned. Fatih Birol described the current turmoil in oil and gas markets as surpassing all previous crises in scale and impact.
Speaking in a radio interview on Tuesday, Birol highlighted the compounded disruptions affecting both petroleum and natural gas supplies, intensified by overlapping geopolitical tensions. Central to this crisis is the Middle East, where the war has severely disturbed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for global energy trade. Approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transit this narrow channel, making any disruption there immediately reverberate across international markets.
This upheaval adds to earlier shocks caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, which had already altered global energy flows by cutting off a significant portion of Russian gas supplies to Europe. Birol emphasized that the combined effects of these crises have placed unprecedented pressure on global energy systems, exceeding the disruptions experienced during the oil shocks of the 1970s and the market volatility of 2022.
In a significant development earlier this month, Birol noted that the current situation is more severe than the crises of 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined, all of which had triggered substantial economic instability worldwide.
To help stabilize markets and counter rising oil prices, the IEA coordinated the release of 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves in March, marking the largest intervention of its kind in the agency’s history. This measure aimed to alleviate supply shortages caused by escalating conflict and restricted energy transport routes.
Despite these efforts, concerns remain that ongoing instability in the region could further constrain supplies, push prices higher, and create ripple effects across global economies already struggling with inflation and energy insecurity.
