(Sharecast News) - The head of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday that Europe could run out of jet fuel in six weeks.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Fatih Birol said Europe has "maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left" as he warned of possible flight cancellations "soon" if oil supplies remain blocked by the US war on Iran.

Birol referred to the current energy crisis as "the largest" ever faced.

He told AP: "In the past there was a group called 'Dire Straits.' It's a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy. And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world."

He said impact will be "higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices".

Birol said some countries would be "hit worse than the others", naming Japan, Korea, India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh as being on the front line of the energy crisis.

"The countries who will suffer the most will not be those whose voice are heard a lot. It will be mainly the developing countries. Poorer countries in Asia, in Africa, and in Latin America," he said. "Then it will come to Europe and the Americas."

Referring to the potential impact on Europe, Birol said that if the vital Strait of Hormuz isn't reopened we will soon hear "the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel".

Commenting on the so-called "toll booth" system by Iran, Birol said that allowing that to become more permanent would run the risk of setting a precedent that could then be applied to other waterways, including the vital Malacca Strait in Asia.

"If we change it once, it may be difficult to get it back," he said. "It will be difficult to have a toll system here, applied here, but not there.

"I would like to see that the oil flows unconditionally from the point A to point B."

• News Channel