Those who are asked to do analyses on the areas most affected by the Middle East crisis and the difficulty of getting oil “through” the Strait of Hormuz come to certain conclusions. Yes, it is Asia that is most dependent on oil and gas from the Persian Gulf. Yes, Europe appears relatively “safe”. But within this general framework, there is one exception that is not obvious at first glance: Greece.

Our country is among those that, historically, have shown some of the highest dependencies on the region. Not absolutely, but in percentage terms, in relation to its overall “energy mix”. This does not mean, of course, that Greece is one of the largest importers of Gulf oil in absolute terms. It means something more complex and, to some extent, more revealing: that in critical periods, a very large proportion of the oil it consumed came directly from there. Before the sanctions were intensified, Iranian oil accounted for about 25% to 30% of Greek crude imports, an extremely high percentage for a European economy and well above the EU average.