The oil crisis triggered by the Iran war has changed the fossil fuel industry for ever, turning countries away from fossil fuels to secure energy supplies, the world’s leading energy economist said.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), also said that, despite pressure, the UK should forgo much of its potential North Sea expansion.
Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Birol said a key effect of the US-Israel war on Iran was that countries would lose trust in fossil fuels and demand for them would reduce.
“Their perception of risk and reliability will change. Governments will review their energy strategies. There will be a significant boost to renewables and nuclear power and a further shift towards a more electrified future,” he said. “And this will cut into the main markets for oil.”
Birol said there was no going back from the crisis: “The vase is broken, the damage is done – it will be very difficult to put the pieces back together. This will have permanent consequences for the global energy markets for years to come.”
Oops.
What bullshit. As much as I'd like to hope that were the case, a few weeks of sort of expensive oil isn't changing shit. Months of lockdown and gas prices hitting pennies didn't do it.
This is a psy-op.
We literally just sold our car over this, and I'm sure we're not the only ones
Your argument is basically "nuh-uh!" and "conspiracy theory"
So I can say that this has changed the approach to a lot of Australians thinking about their next car. The mileage varies in other countries of course and yeah, there’s still the defiant but a few of us are thinking about how our next vehicle is powered, especially those with solar and given they attract a tax rebate.
I’m one of those, three I’ve spoken to in my family are, the next door neighbour is…they’re anecdotal but a cursory glance into what’s going on here backs it up. It’s changing and this recent problem has got people like me looking to accelerate that. I’m looking at an electric van or ute if one’s available as my next car.
I remember what my dad told me about what was going on in outback Australia in regards to horses and cars, the similarities are quite sobering. The arguments were the same; horses for one reason or another would be needed for transport. Petroleum is much broader of course and it will always be needed for other things but here at least transport flipping over in the mind is well underway now.
I think the argument is not so much for price increases (which we have now) but for the supply restrictions and destruction taking place. First consider that every month that Hormuz remains closed, the world loses about 2% of the yearly supply of oil and gas. Then take into account the long transition of the boats and the damage to wells and refineries means there will be scarcity. Heck, in some Asian countries that is already the case. And the scarcities will be global.
That is already baked into the world economy, just not factored onto the markets.
I also wonder how many shipowners and insurers will be happy to let their ships enter past the strait into the gulf if they're not 100% confident they'll be able to get back out again. If it happens once, the chances of it happening again generally increase.
None. The blockade is mostly enforced by the insurers, and the 5 years lead time to buy a new boat. All Iran has to do is fire the odd drone/missiles every once in a while and no ship owner will risk it
For real. "You won, things have changed", just so people let up and they win time to get back into gear