The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated on Tuesday that the war between Iran, the United States, and Israel is causing the world’s worst energy crisis to date.
In an interview with France Inter radio on Tuesday, Birol stated, “This is the biggest crisis in history.”
A fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows pass via the Strait of Hormuz, where maritime trade has been hampered by the Middle East conflict.
The consequences of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, which had already cut off Russian gas supplies to Europe, have now been exacerbated.
Earlier this month, Birol stated that he thought the current state of the world’s energy markets was worse than the combined crises of 1973, 1979, and 2022.
To counteract rising oil prices brought on by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, the IEA decided in March to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic inventories.
