IEA chief says now world losing more oil daily than during 2 1970s crises combined

Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has warned that the ongoing war in the Middle East has made the situation “very serious,” even more so than the two oil crises of 1973 and 1979, The Guardian reports.

“At that time, in each [oil] crisis, the world has lost about 5 million barrels per day, both of them together 10 million barrels per day. And after that we all know that there were major economic problems around the world. And today we lost 11 million barrels – so more than two major oil shocks put together,” Birol stated.

“Plus after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the gas markets\ – especially in Europe – we lost about 75 billion consumer metres, 75BCM. And as of now, as a result of this crisis, we lost about 140BCM, almost twice. So the situation is, if we want to put in a context, this crisis as it stands now, two oil crises and one gas crash put all together.”

Birol adds that the crisis is also having a severe impact on other “vital arteries of the global economy”, including petrochemicals and fertilisers, which will have lasting impacts.