Current oil & gas crisis worse than 1973, 1979, 2002 together: IEA

PARIS - The ⁠current oil and gas crisis triggered by ​the blockade ​of the Strait of Hormuz is 'more serious than the ones in 1973, 1979 and 2002 together', Fatih Birol, the head of the International ⁠Energy Agency (IEA), told Le Figaro newspaper.
'The world ⁠has never experienced a disruption to energy supply of such magnitude,' he said in an ‌interview with the French newspaper ​released in ⁠its Tuesday edition.
He said ​the European countries, as ‌well as Japan, Australia, and others will suffer, but the ​countries most at risk were developing nations, which will suffer from higher oil and gas prices, higher food prices, and a general ‌acceleration of inflation.
The IEA member countries agreed ​last month to release part of their strategic ​reserves. ‌Some ⁠of this had already been released, and the process continues, said Birol.
In ​reaction to the strikes by ⁠Israel and ​the U.S., Iran has almost entirely blocked the traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of ​world oil and gas regularly ​flows, creating a surge in energy prices.