IEA Head: World Faces Largest Energy Crisis in History

The head of the International Energy Agency has declared that the world is facing the largest energy crisis in history.

Because of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, lost volumes of oil and gas already exceed the combined losses of the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, Fatih Birol stated.

Before the Middle East conflict began, roughly 25 million barrels of oil passed through the strait every day. Now the average is about 15 million barrels per day.

Oil prices, however, remain around $95 a barrel. According to Birol, this is due to the surplus of supply that existed before the conflict started, as well as the agency’s release of 400 million barrels from strategic reserves.

These factors have provided a temporary safety cushion, the IEA chief said. But its capacity is gradually being exhausted.