“The world is facing the most serious energy crisis in its history,” warns the head of the International Energy Agency

The world is facing “a major energy and economic challenge”, said this Thursday, April 30, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, at a time when the war in the Middle East has disrupted traditional energy circuits and affected the world economy.

“The world is facing the most serious energy crisis in its history. And what is happening now shows that, unfortunately, we were right. The oil and gas markets will experience serious difficulties,” said the leader during a conference in Paris devoted in particular to renewable energies.

“We now know clearly that the global economy must change its energy model. And the most crucial step is to accelerate the transition to clean energy,” COP31 President Murat Kurum also said at this event.

No “return to normal” within “two years”

As with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the war in the Middle East has shown the world its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, this time with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, where 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transited before the conflict.

The price of a barrel of Brent, the world benchmark for crude, thus exceeded 126 dollars on Thursday during Asian trade, a peak since the beginning of 2022 when the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army caused a surge in prices. Since the start of the year, the price of Brent has therefore doubled.

This surge in prices is having serious effects on economies across the planet, with diminishing growth prospects.

It will take “two years” before “a return to normal” once the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, Fatih Birol warned on Tuesday April 21 on France Inter. “Things will not recover quickly (…) it will be very gradual” because “the energy market will be very volatile,” he explained.