Europe Only Has Six Weeks’ of Jet Fuel Left, Says Energy Chief

​Europe only has about a six-week supply of jet fuel left before shortages caused by the Iran war will force airlines to begin cancelling more flights, the chief of the International Energy Agency has said.

Fatih Birol, the global energy watchdog’s executive director, said the situation was “dire” and would bring increasing disruptions unless oil supplies from the Middle East are restored soon.  

“In Europe, we have maybe six weeks or so [of] jet fuel left,” he told the Associated Press on Thursday. 

“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 cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel.”

“It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy,” he added. “And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world.” He also warned of higher petrol, gas and electricity prices.

Earlier this month, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the UK was the most vulnerable country in Europe to possible shortages of jet fuel because it is heavily dependent on shipments from Kuwait.

“There could be a surplus of jet A-1 fuel in the Middle East, but you have still got to ship it to Europe and we don’t know when or how that happens,” he said.

Dutch airline KLM said on Thursday that it was canceling 160 flights over the next month due to rising kerosene jet fuel prices.

Global oil shipments have been severely disrupted since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to most ships in retaliation for the US and Israel’s illegal war, which has killed over 1,701 Iranian civilians, according to the rights group Human Rights Activists in Iran.