The United States (US)-Israel war against Iran, combined with the\nclosure of the Strait of Hormuz, has triggered the largest oil supply\ndisruption in history in terms of daily production losses. This is\nrevealed by Reuters\u2019 calculations based on data from the International\nEnergy Agency (IEA) and the US Department of Energy.<\/p>\n
The IEA has even described this crisis as the worst, especially when\ncombined with the ongoing impact of Europe\u2019s gas crisis resulting from\nRussia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the worst energy crisis the world has ever faced,\u201d the IEA\nwrote in its report, quoted on Wednesday (22\/4\/2026).<\/p>\n
Unlike past energy shocks, the current Iranian conflict does not only\nstrike crude oil but also natural gas, refined fuels, and fertilisers.\nThis situation reflects new vulnerabilities due to rising global energy\ndemand and the increasingly complex trade chains.<\/p>\n
If the 1970s crisis was triggered by an embargo deliberately\nsqueezing oil supplies, the current shock is occurring simultaneously\nacross the entire energy chain, from oil to gas and its derivatives.<\/p>\n
The IEA notes that the peak supply loss in the current crisis reached\nmore than 12 million barrels per day, equivalent to about 11.5% of the\nestimated global oil demand of 104.3 million barrels per day this\nyear.<\/p>\n
This figure far exceeds previous crises, such as the 1973-1974 Arab\noil embargo of 4.5 million barrels per day, the 1978-1979 Iranian\nRevolution of 5.6 million barrels per day, and the 1991 Gulf War of 4.3\nmillion barrels per day.<\/p>\n
Not only oil, but this conflict has also halted around one-fifth of\nglobal liquefied natural gas (LNG) production from Qatar. This situation\nexacerbates pressure on the world energy market, which is now far more\nreliant on gas than in previous decades. Disruptions have also spilled\nover to the downstream sector, where production of fuels from refineries\nin the Gulf region is disrupted, triggering shortages of jet fuel and\ndiesel in various areas.<\/p>\n
Over 52 days of conflict, Reuters estimates the total supply loss at\naround 624 million barrels. This figure is expected to continue\nincreasing, even if the conflict eases in the near future, because\nenergy supply recovery typically takes a long time.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, in historical records, the 1978-1979 Iranian Revolution\nstill recorded a larger cumulative impact. The US Department of Energy\nnoted an average production drop of 3.9 million barrels per day during\nthe 1978-1981 period, equivalent to about 4.27 billion barrels.<\/p>\n
Energy journalist Ian Seymour described that decline as one of the\nmost significant in oil industry history. \u201cIran produced around 6\nmillion barrels per day at the end of 1978, but it fell to an average of\n3.1 million barrels per day in 1979,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Unlike previous crises, producer countries with reserve capacity such\nas Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are unable to cover the\nsupply shortfall this time. This is because they are also affected by\ndisruptions to distribution routes through the Strait of Hormuz, which\nis a vital global energy trade route.<\/p>\n
The impact of the current crisis also feels different geographically.\nIf the 1973 Arab oil embargo severely hit the United States, causing\nlong queues at petrol stations, this time the pressure is first felt by\ncountries in Asia and Africa experiencing fuel supply shortages.<\/p>\n
In comparison, the 1991 Gulf War caused a supply loss of around 516\nmillion barrels, smaller than the current crisis, while disruptions from\nRussia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 were relatively limited with a\nproduction drop of around 1 million barrels per day.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/data-speaks-us-iran-war-triggers-worlds-worst-energy-crisis-1776865855", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }