Damage to Middle East Energy Sites Threatens Global Supply Chains

(MENAFN) Over forty energy facilities across nine Middle Eastern nations have been “severely or very severely” harmed amid ongoing hostilities, the International Energy Agency reported, according to media reports on Sunday.

Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the IEA, emphasized that the destruction may extend interruptions to worldwide supply networks even after the conflict concludes.

“It will take some time for the oil fields, refineries and pipelines to come back online,” Birol noted, highlighting the slow pace expected for restoration.

He explained that more than three weeks of combat have disrupted the complete energy supply chain and nearly stopped shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Birol compared the scale of these disturbances to “the two major oil crises in the 1970s and the 2022 natural gas crisis … all put together,” underscoring the unprecedented nature of the situation.

“Not only oil and gas, but some of the vital arteries of the global economy … their trade is all interrupted,” he added, stressing the wider economic consequences.

He also cautioned that Asia is particularly vulnerable due to its dependence on regional energy resources.

“Every country first looks at its own domestic interest, but … serious export restrictions without justification might not be something which gets plus points,” Birol remarked, warning about potential repercussions of unilateral export limits.

To mitigate supply shocks, the IEA intends to release 400 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves, with the possibility of further releases if disruptions persist.

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