Iran war causing worst energy crisis in history, IEA chief says

By Reuters 21 April 2026, 10:03 am

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International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol speaks at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, Monday, March 23, 2026. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

PARIS, France — The conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel is creating the worst energy crisis ever faced by the world, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) says.

“This is indeed the biggest crisis in history,” Fatih Birol tells France Inter radio in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.

“The crisis is already huge, if you combine the effects of the petrol crisis and the gas crisis with Russia,” he adds.

The war in the Middle East has choked up maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

It has also come on top of the effects of Russia’s war with Ukraine, which had already severed Russian gas supplies to Europe.

Birol had said earlier this month that he viewed the current situation in global energy markets as worse than previous crises in 1973, 1979, and 2022 combined.

In March, the IEA agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles to combat rising oil prices caused by the US-Israeli war with Iran.