Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, has issued a sweeping warning that no economy in the world will be immune from the consequences of the ongoing energy crisis if the Iran war continues on its current trajectory. Speaking in Canberra during a tour of the Asia-Pacific region, Birol described the crisis as the equivalent of the combined force of the 1970s oil shocks and the Ukraine gas disruption. He called for an immediate and coordinated global response.
The crisis began with US and Israeli military strikes against Iran on February 28 and escalated with the closure of the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. Since then, 11 million barrels of oil per day and 140 billion cubic metres of gas have been removed from world markets. This compares to 5 million barrels of daily oil loss during the combined 1970s crises and 75 billion cubic metres of gas removed by the Ukraine conflict — making the current emergency far more severe on both counts.
The IEA authorized the release of 400 million barrels from strategic petroleum reserves on March 11, the largest such emergency action in its history. Birol said the agency was actively discussing with governments across three continents whether further releases were needed, noting that only 20 percent of available stocks had been deployed. He also pushed governments to implement energy-saving measures, including expanded remote working, lower speed limits, and reduced aviation.
Birol expressed concern about the tendency of some countries, particularly in Asia, to adopt defensive postures on domestic fuel stocks. He said such behavior, while understandable, was counterproductive to the global effort to manage the crisis. Increased Canadian and Mexican oil production could provide some relief to European markets, but the Asia-Pacific supply gap was more difficult to address.
At least 40 energy assets across the Gulf have been severely damaged, meaning supply restoration will be slow even after peace is achieved. Iran threatened strikes on US and allied energy and water facilities in response to Trump’s ultimatum to reopen the strait. Birol’s most fundamental message was that no nation can protect itself by acting alone — only through international cooperation can the world navigate this historic energy emergency.