The conflict in the Middle East is creating the worst energy crisis the world has ever faced, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, Reuters reports.

“This is indeed the biggest crisis in history,” Birol told France Inter radio in an interview broadcast.

“The crisis is already huge, if you combine the effects of the petrol crisis and the gas crisis with Russia,” he added.

The war in the Middle East has choked up maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is a conduit for a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.

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