The current energy crisis caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is “more serious than those of 1973, 1979 and 2002 combined”, says Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), in Le Figaro.

“The world has never experienced an interruption in the energy supply chain on such a scale, he said in an interview published in Tuesday’s paper, stressing that European countries, as well as Japan, Australia and others, would be affected, but the countries most at risk are developing countries, which will suffer the consequences of higher oil and gas prices, higher food prices and a general acceleration of inflation.

IEA member states agreed last month to dispose of some of their strategic reserves. Some of these had already been allocated and the process was ongoing,
said Birol.

In response to the Israeli and US attacks, Iran has almost entirely blocked traffic at Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and gas regularly flows, causing energy prices to soar.