The Iran energy crisis has demonstrated why every nation needs a comprehensive, regularly updated, and genuinely actionable energy emergency plan — not a theoretical document, but a real operational framework for managing major supply disruptions, the head of the International Energy Agency has said. Fatih Birol, speaking in Canberra, said many nations had been caught flat-footed by the scale and speed of the current crisis because their emergency plans had not been designed for disruptions of this magnitude. He described the overall emergency as equivalent to the combined force of the 1970s twin oil shocks and the Ukraine gas disruption.
Birol said good energy emergency planning required several elements: accurate assessments of supply vulnerability, adequate strategic reserve holdings, pre-established demand management protocols that could be rapidly activated, clear communication plans for government and public, and established coordination mechanisms with international partners. Many nations had some of these elements but few had all of them at the level of quality and readiness the current crisis demanded.
The conflict began February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran and has since removed 11 million barrels of oil per day and 140 billion cubic metres of gas from world markets. At least 40 Gulf energy assets have been severely damaged, and the Hormuz strait — through which approximately 20 percent of global oil flows — remains closed. The IEA deployed 400 million barrels from strategic reserves on March 11 in its largest emergency action.
Birol confirmed further releases were under consideration and said consultations with governments across three continents were ongoing. He called for demand-side policies including remote work, lower speed limits, and reduced commercial aviation. He met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and offered the IEA’s assistance in reviewing and strengthening Australia’s national energy emergency planning frameworks.
Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum to Iran to reopen the strait expired without result, and Tehran threatened retaliatory strikes on US and allied energy and water infrastructure. Birol concluded by calling on every IEA member government to conduct an immediate review of its national energy emergency plan in light of the lessons of the current crisis. He said the cost of inadequate emergency planning was being paid in real time — and that the bill would only get larger for nations that failed to act.