The world is facing a “major energy and economic challenge” as oil prices have soared in the wake of the war in the Middle East, International Energy Agency (IEA) chief Fatih Birol has said, AFP reports.

“The world is facing the biggest energy crisis in history,” Birol said at a high-level meeting on the energy transition at IEA headquarters in Paris, adding that oil prices were “putting a lot of pressure in many countries”.