IEA Warns the World Has Just Weeks to Reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, warned on Thursday, July 16, 2026 that the global economy will face renewed difficulty unless the Strait of Hormuz crisis is resolved within the next few weeks. He stressed that "it is not months, it is weeks" and said the waterway must be reopened "fully and unconditionally."

Noting that roughly 20 percent of the world's oil and gas normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz, Birol said markets are nervous and grappling with "big uncertainty." Disruption to Persian Gulf energy and petrochemical feedstock shipments has already hit economies such as South Korea and Japan, he said, while countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and India are far more vulnerable to a cutoff.

The remarks came on the sixth day of the Iran-US military confrontation over control of Hormuz, as Brent crude steadied near 85 dollars after four days of gains.