IEA warns of potential diesel and kerosene shortages in Europe

Moscow (ANTARA) - The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, warned on Friday of a potential shortage of diesel and kerosene or paraffin in Europe in the coming weeks if the situation in the Middle East does not stabilise soon.

In early April, Birol stated that Europe had sufficient kerosene stocks for two months if deliveries were completely halted due to escalation in the Middle East.

“If the situation does not improve, diesel and kerosene could soon become scarce in Europe. Not immediately, but in the next few weeks,” Birol said in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.

The IEA head reminded that before the conflict in the Middle East, Europe received most of its diesel and kerosene supplies from refineries in that region, but many fuel depots have been empty in recent weeks.

Given the high fuel prices, Germany should consider imposing speed limits on motorways, he added. He also said that Germany had made “a strategic mistake by shutting down its nuclear power plants.”

“But that’s what happened, and building large nuclear power plants like before would take a long time and be very expensive. Instead, Germany could consider using small modular reactors,” Birol stated.

In 2011, the German government, then led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, decided to completely phase out nuclear power by 2022, citing the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night (7/4), US President Donald Trump said he had approved a two-week bilateral ceasefire with Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Wednesday (8/4) that the Strait of Hormuz, which handles around 20 percent of global oil supplies, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas (LNG), would be reopened.