The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in an interview on Thursday that Europe has approximately six weeks of jet fuel left if supplies remain blocked due to the Iran war, the Associated Press reports.

According to the outlet, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said it’s “the largest energy crisis we have ever faced.”

The Strait of Hormuz, a focal point in the Iran war, is a critical global energy chokepoint that supplies roughly 20% of the world’s total oil supply.

“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 told the Associated Press.

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The impact will be “higher petrol (gasoline) prices, higher gas prices, high electricity prices,” said Birol, speaking in his Paris office looking out over the Eiffel Tower.

Economic pain will be felt unevenly and “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,” said the Turkish economist and energy expert who has led the IEA since 2015.

But without a settlement of the Iran war that permanently reopens the Strait of Hormuz, “Everybody is going to suffer,” he added.

“Some countries may be richer than the others. Some countries may have more energy than the others, but no country, no country is immune to this crisis,” he said.

“In Europe, we have maybe six weeks or so (of) jet fuel left,” he told the outlet.

“If we are not able to open the Strait of Hormuz … 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,” he continued.

NBC News shared further:

Birol spoke out against the so-called “toll booth” system that Iran has applied to some ships, letting them travel through the strait for a fee. He 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,” he said.

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