Nuran Erkul
21 April 2026•Update: 21 April 2026
The ongoing military conflict in the Middle East led to an energy market shock and created the biggest energy crisis compared to all previous global energy crises combined, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) told Anadolu.
Fatih Birol stated that some 84 energy facilities across the region have been damaged and 34 suffered serious or very serious damage.
The damaged infrastructure includes critical oil and gas fields, refineries, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals across Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iraq.
The crisis wiped out 13 million barrels of daily crude production.
“Considering that the world’s daily demand is at 100 million barrels, 13 million barrels of loss is massive,” he said, adding that the market also lost 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas supply.
The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t help the situation, either.
More than 200 crude oil and petroleum product tankers, as well as 10 LNG tankers, are currently stranded in the Gulf with full cargo aboard, unable to navigate the vital waterway, according to the IEA.
Birol stated that the ceasefire and the reopening of the maritime route won’t be enough to fix the fallout any time soon.
“Even if it were to be reopened immediately in a safe and convincing way, it would still be overly optimistic to expect oil and natural gas supplies to return to pre-war levels — it could take at least two years for production at these plants to return to ordinary levels, or even more for some plants,” he said.
Birol noted that the crisis affected the supply of fertilizers, sulfur, helium, and petrochemical products that are vital to global supply chains.
The IEA formed a joint emergency coordination group with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank due to energy prices expected to remain volatile in the coming period to provide direct financial and advisory services to developing countries.
Birol mentioned that if these high oil prices are sustained, they could drive up inflation, widen trade deficits, and ultimately lead to a debt spiral for vulnerable economies.
The $110 trillion global economy is reckoning with the security risks of relying on a vulnerable maritime chokepoint during such turbulent times, while countries around the world scramble to find alternative routes and energy partners.
He said that Türkiye could benefit from this pivot, urging the development of alternative transit corridor like the expansion of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as building a pipeline between Basra and Ceyhan.
He added that Türkiye has a potential for oil and gas coming to the country to be transported to the Mediterranean region and Europe, providing a massive advantage.
*Writing by Emir Yildirim
