IEA: World Faces Serious Threat to Energy Security Impact of Strait of Hormuz

A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter flies over the Strait of Hormuz April 17, 2026 shortly after Iran officially opened the world's fifth-largest oil and gas pipeline. (X @CENTCOM)a

JAKARTA - The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, stated that the world faces a serious threat to global energy security if tensions between the United States and Iran continue to hinder the oil distribution route in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Oil security is still a critical issue," Birol said at an event of the Council on Foreign Relations, quoted by Reuters, Friday, July 17.

"We have to be concerned, and I am concerned, if the situation does not improve in the next few weeks," he continued.

The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea lane stretching between Iran and Oman, is one of the world's energy trade arteries. About a fifth of global energy supplies pass through the route. However, since the conflict broke out on February 28 as a result of US and Israeli attacks on Iran, shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely been hampered, triggering a rise in global energy prices.

Although world energy prices have risen sharply, Birol said a number of factors have dampened the rise. This includes China's oil reserves, which amounted to more than 1 billion barrels before the US-Israel vs Iran war broke out, oil savings through increased use of electric vehicles and public transport, and the release of up to 400 million barrels of oil coordinated by the IEA.

However, these solutions "cannot last forever," said Birol, who said the Iran war was the worst energy disruption in history.

Birol said the increase in production by the US, the world's largest oil and gas producer, had helped. "The increase in US production is very good... The US increased by 1 million, 2 million, but it cannot increase 10 million barrels per day of crude oil production," he said.

He said the oil and gas supply crisis had hurt economies around the world, but asymmetrically.

"Especially Asia, because Asia gets 80 to 90 percent of this energy from the Strait of Hormuz," said Birol.

Birol said Japan and South Korea were particularly affected, but developing countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India have been hit the hardest.

Birol then highlighted the potential health risks for people in developing countries, especially women, who have switched to alternative cooking fuels including animal dung and wood with more harmful emissions as petroleum products become unaffordable.

Oil prices fell by around USD20 per barrel after the IEA's coordinated release in March 2026, and the action signaled to the market that the organization representing more than 30 countries could again tap into reserves if conditions worsened.

"Even though the number is very large," Birol said of the release of up to 400 million barrels.