Europe's jet fuel may last for 6 weeks only: IEA
Birol painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of "the largest energy crisis ever faced."
Europe has “maybe 6 weeks or so of jet fuel left", the head of the International Energy Agency said, warning of possible flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.
IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol on Thursday painted a sobering picture of the global repercussions of what he called “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced", stemming from the pinch-off of oil, gas and other vital supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.
“In the past, there was a group called ‘Dire Straits', and Europe is in a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world," he said.
The impact will be “higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, and high electricity prices,” Birol told AP, with some parts of the world “hit worse than the others".
“The front line is the Asian countries” that rely on energy from the Middle East, he said, naming Japan, Korea, India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“Then it will come to Europe and the Americas,” he added, speaking from his Paris office.
If the Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened, he said that for Europe, “I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of a lack of jet fuel.”
The US has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports following rare direct talks between Washington and Tehran in Pakistan over the weekend aimed at ending the war that began on February 28, but which failed to produce an agreement.