This statement was made by Dan Jorgensen, European Commissioner for Energy.
“This is going to be a protracted crisis … energy prices will be high for a very long time,” Dan Jorgensen told the Financial Times, warning that for some of the more “critical” commodities “things will get worse in the coming weeks.”
The near-total closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz and strikes on infrastructure in the Persian Gulf have wreaked havoc on energy markets, sending prices soaring and raising fears about long-term supplies.
“The rhetoric we are using and the words we are using sound more serious now than they did at the beginning of the crisis,” Jorgensen said. – We are certainly assuming that the situation will drag on and countries need to make sure that they have what they need.
He said that while the EU “has not yet faced a security of supply crisis,” Brussels is developing plans to deal with the “structural, long-term consequences” of the conflict.
The warning from the EU came amid an energy crisis that has affected the world, raising fears of rising inflation and slowing economic growth. Governments have had to draw up plans to support consumers, and some countries are launching coal-fired power plants.
Jorgensen said the EU was “preparing for the worst-case scenario” even though the bloc was “not yet ready” to ration critical products such as jet fuel or diesel.
