Four years ago, Europe was taught a brutal lesson in energy security when Russian natural gas flows to the EU slowed to a trickle. The war in Iran has sparked an even more severe energy crisis, highlighting how a stubborn reliance on energy imports continues to dog the continent.
Nearly two months since the war in the Middle East first broke out, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to almost all traffic, despite an ongoing ceasefire and negotiations to reopen the critical chokepoint that locked up one fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply in the Persian Gulf. In that time, the EU’s energy bill has skyrocketed. In the first 52 days since the conflict started, rising oil and gas prices have forced the bloc to spend an additional €24 billion (around $28 billion) on fossil fuel imports compared to previous levels, according to calculations from the European Commission.
