"Global energy security at risk" - IEA head calls for Hormuz to be opened within weeks
If the US and Iran do not soon increase the oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, the world should be concerned about energy security, said the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol.
"Oil security is still a critical issue," Birol said at a Council on Foreign Relations event. "We should be concerned, and I am concerned, if the situation does not improve in the coming weeks."
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally carries about a fifth of the world's energy shipments, has been largely blocked since the conflict began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Despite the sharp increases in energy prices, Birol said several factors have moderated the increase. These include China's reserves, which amounted to more than 1 billion barrels of oil before the war, oil conservation through the increasing use of electric vehicles and public transport, and an IEA-coordinated release of up to 400 million barrels of oil.
But these arrangements "cannot last forever," said Birol, who added that the Iran war is the worst power outage in history.
Birol said a surge in production from the United States, the world's top oil and gas producer, has helped. "The surge in production from the U.S. is very good... The U.S. increased crude oil production by 1 million, 2 million, but it cannot increase 10 million," barrels per day, he said.
The oil and gas supply crisis has damaged economies around the world, but in an asymmetrical way, he said.
"It's mainly Asia, because Asia used to get 80 to 90% of this energy from the Strait of Hormuz," he said. Japan and South Korea have suffered, but developing countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, have been hit hardest, he said.
Birol highlighted the potential health risks for people in developing countries, especially women, who have turned to alternative cooking fuels, including dung and wood, with more hazardous emissions, as petroleum products have become unaffordable.
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