Holidays under threat as energy chief warns Europe has 'maybe 6 weeks of jet fuel left'
International Energy Agency chief says "flights from city A to city B might be canceled soon as a result of lack of jet fuel."
The head of the International Energy Agency has said that Europe only has “maybe six weeks or so of jet fuel left” to keep planes in the air.
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IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol warned of possible flight cancellations “soon” due to a lack of fuel if oil supplies remain blocked for much longer by the Iran war.
He said the war has sparked “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced,” due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world,” he told the Associated Press.
The impact will be “higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices,” with some parts of the world “hit worse than the others.”
“The front line is the Asian countries” that rely on energy from the Middle East, he said, naming Japan, Korea, India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“Then it will come to Europe and the Americas. I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be canceled as a result of lack of jet fuel.”
His comments come after Chancellor Rachel Reeves described Donald Trump’s war with Iran as a “mistake”, saying she is not convinced the joint US-Israeli action has made the world safer.
Speaking at an event on the sidelines of the IMF meetings in Washington, the Chancellor said the right approach to Iran was diplomacy rather than conflict.
She said: “The question is not whether you like or dislike the Iranian regime – I strongly dislike the Iranian regime – but how to achieve the change that you want to achieve.”
Reeves said Iran did not currently have a nuclear weapon and argued that negotiations had offered the best route to preventing it from obtaining one.
She added: “There was a diplomatic channel open, conversations, formal discussions were happening.
“I think it was a mistake to end those and to enter into conflict, because I'm not convinced that we are safer today than we were a few weeks ago.”
The Chancellor also questioned the overall aims of the conflict and warned of the economic consequences for the UK and beyond.
She said: “We've never been clear about what the goals of this conflict is, which is why the impacts in our economy, but also here in the US economy and around the world, and particularly for our allies in the Gulf, like Saudi and Qatar and the UAE, are so immense.
“We need to reopen that Strait of Hormuz to get down energy prices and to strengthen and stabilise
“I believe that you can't have economic security without national security. Energy security is a key part of that. But to have energy security, you've got to have those key waterways open, which we don't at the moment.”
On the Strait of Hormuz, Reeves said: “It was open at the beginning of this conflict, and that's what I mean about being clear about what the objectives of this conflict is.”
She added that Britain was prepared to help restore access to the waterway, but questioned whether the conflict had improved global security.
Reeves said: “We are willing to play our part, but the Strait of Hormuz was open. There was no tolling a few weeks ago.
“Yes, we want to get back there, but I'm not convinced that this conflict has made the world a safer place.”
Her remarks came as Trump again criticised Sir Keir Starmer for refusing to back his military campaign against Iran.
In an interview with Sky News, the US president said the UK had been “not there” when he asked for support with strikes on Tehran and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Sir Keir later told MPs he would not change his position under pressure.“I'm not going to change my mind, I'm not going to yield,” he said.
Trump also suggested the UK-US trade deal agreed last year could be revisited.
He said: “We gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed.”
The president also criticised Labour’s stance on immigration and net zero, and said of the so-called Special Relationship that it had “been better” and that was “sad”.
Asked about King Charles’s State Visit to the US later this month, Trump said tensions would “not at all” affect it.
He added: “I've known him for a long time. He's wonderful, wonderful person.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Trump initially responded to a question on the Special Relationship by saying: “With who?”
He went on to say he liked the Prime Minister, but accused him of making “a tragic mistake in closing the North Sea oil” and “a tragic mistake on immigration”.
Trump added: “Your country is being invaded... by illegal immigrants from all over the world, including those from prisons, drug dealers, people from mental institutions.”
Downing Street has also played down calls from Welsh Labour leader Baroness Morgan to suspend the planned deep space radar project in Pembrokeshire in response to what she described as Trump’s hostility towards the UK.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir told MPs the UK would not take part in Trump’s plans to block “any and all ships” moving through the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict, although Britain remains willing to help restore freedom of navigation once the fighting ends.