Global energy crisis is ‘the mother of all crises’: Turkish energy minister
Turkiye’s energy minister says the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, due to the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, indicates the importance of diversifying energy routes and will force the world to move towards forming a new energy structure.
Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, discussed the effects of the crisis caused by Iran’s retaliatory blocking of the strait, calling the current global energy crisis “the mother of all crises”.
Bayraktar argued that thanks to Turkiye’s extensive investments in energy and infrastructure, its geographical location between Asia and Europe, and the presence of oil and natural gas reserves in its region, it has become a pivotal country in the region in the field of energy, especially as it harbours two key pipelines, the “Blue Stream” and the “TurkStream”.
The minister also suggested Ankara is well-suited to weather the crisis, as it has sufficient strategic energy reserves, with gas storage facilities that are 72 percent full, compared with Europe’s at just 28 percent.
But Bayraktar said that the rising cost of oil and gas still burdens the state budget, as an increase in the price of a barrel of oil by $1 costs Ankara about $400m.
The following is a transcript of Al Jazeera’s interview with the Turkish minister discussing the global energy crisis.
It has been edited for length and clarity:
Al Jazeera: The entire world has been suffering as a result of the tensions in the Gulf region and the Strait of Hormuz since February 28.
How do you see the current situation with regard to energy supplies and security?
Bayraktar: We are going through what we might call the “mother of all crises”.
The world has witnessed many oil crises in the past 50 years, such as the post-COVID-19 crisis and following the Ukrainian-Russian war, but this crisis seems to be the biggest of them all.
Despite this, I would argue that the world has become immune to such crises. Looking back at the past 20 years, it seems that crises have become the new normal.
The current situation is as follows: the world needs 103 million barrels of oil per day, but supply is currently limited due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transit route.
There is a deficit of approximately 20 million barrels, and the world is searching for a solution.
With the ceasefire beginning today [Wednesday], our hope for an improvement in the situation has increased, as oil prices have begun to fall, and the situation is expected to improve further with the resumption of navigation in the strait. Our hope is to reach a lasting peace.
