A new global energy security deal — one that establishes clearer rules, stronger protections, and more robust international coordination mechanisms for managing energy supply disruptions — has never been more necessary than it is in the wake of the Iran crisis, the head of the International Energy Agency has argued. Fatih Birol, speaking in Canberra, said the scale of the emergency — equivalent to the combined force of the 1970s twin oil shocks and the Ukraine gas disruption — had demonstrated that the existing frameworks governing global energy security were inadequate for the challenges of the twenty-first century. He called for an ambitious new international agreement.
Birol envisioned a new global energy security deal that would include expanded and better-coordinated strategic reserve requirements, international legal protections for critical energy infrastructure during armed conflict, agreed protocols for rapid multilateral responses to large-scale supply disruptions, and stronger mechanisms for ensuring that all nations — including major emerging economies — participated in the collective management of global energy emergencies.
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 the IEA was consulting with governments across Europe, Asia, and North America. 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 said Australia’s diplomatic standing and energy interests made it a natural advocate for a new global energy security framework.
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 that the political case for a new global energy security deal had never been stronger, and that the current crisis had created a window of political attention and urgency that needed to be used to advance this agenda. He called on governments to begin negotiations toward such a deal immediately.