The head of the International Energy Agency has warned that the ongoing wars involving Iran, the United States, Israel, and Lebanon are driving the world into what could become the worst energy crisis in history.
Speaking in an interview with France Inter radio, IEA chief Fatih Birol said the current situation has already escalated into an unprecedented global energy shock due to combined pressures from both oil and gas markets.
He said the crisis is being intensified by overlapping disruptions, including the ongoing fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which had already cut off major gas supplies to Europe before the latest escalation in the Middle East.
The war has disrupted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy route that handles about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows. The disruption has raised concerns over supply security and price volatility across international markets.
Birol noted that the current conditions are more severe than previous energy crises, including those in 1973, 1979, and 2022, when assessed together in terms of scale and impact.
In response to rising prices and tightening supply, the IEA agreed in March to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves in an effort to stabilize global energy markets.
