Oil, Gas Crisis More Serious Than 1973, 1979, 2022 Together, IEA Chief Says

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol in Brussels on March 6, 2026. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty ImagesInternational Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol said that the current oil and gas crisis is worse than those in the 70s and 2022 combined.“I am very pessimistic because this war is blocking one of the arteries of the world economy. Not just oil and gas, but also fertilizers, petrochemicals, helium, and many other things,” he told French newspaper Le Figaro in comments published on April 6.