IEA's Most Severe Warning: Hormuz Blockade Triggers "Strongest Energy Tsunami in History," Impact Far Exceeds the Sum of the Previous Three Crises

Zhitong Finance APP learned that International Energy Agency (IEA) Director-General Fatih Birol, in an interview, said that the current oil and natural gas crisis triggered by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz “will be more severe than the combined crises of 1973, 1979, and 2022.”

In an exclusive interview published on Tuesday, he said, “The world has never experienced an energy supply disruption of this scale.”

He said that European countries, as well as countries such as Japan and Australia, will be hit too, but the highest risk is for developing countries, which will face the predicament of rising oil and gas prices, soaring food prices, and an all-around acceleration in inflation.

Birol said that IEA member countries agreed last month to release part of their strategic reserves. Some of it has already been released, and the process is still ongoing.

In response to strikes by Israel and the United States, Iran has almost completely blocked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. About 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas are regularly transported via this strait, and the blockade has led to a surge in energy prices.