Ireland 'significantly exposed' to potential jet fuel shortages
Ireland is ‘significantly exposed’ to a potential jet fuel shortage, an aviation expert has warned.
The International Energy Agency warned that Europe could have only six weeks of aviation fuel left due to the ongoing conflict in Iran, which exports around 20% of the world’s oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US has threatened to impose a blockade of the strait, which has seen the price of crude oil skyrocket — but it emerged earlier on Friday that the strait is ‘completely open’ under a ceasefire announced on Thursday night.
Ireland is ‘significantly exposed’ to a potential jet fuel shortage, an aviation expert has warned. Pic: Getty Images
With fears of a potential supply blockage, meaning the continent of Europe would have only six weeks of fuel left before physical shortages begin, an aviation expert has warned that we in Ireland are particularly at risk.
This is because approximately 90% of visitors come to Ireland by air, as does 50% of imported cargo — with Anita Mendiratta saying that, as an island nation, Ireland has a ‘particular vulnerability.’
‘Importantly, this isn’t just the raw crude coming through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s also the refining that the raw crude needs to go through to become jet fuel, which is taking place in the Middle East,’ Ms Mendiratta said on Morning Ireland.
The Strait of Hormuz has become a major point of contention in the ongoing conflict in Iran, which has seen oil prices fluctuate dramatically over the past six weeks. Pic: Getty Images
‘Sadly, many of the refineries have been hit during the conflicts, and therefore their capacity has dropped dramatically as well.
‘Airlines are looking at their schedules very carefully to see where they can thin them out a little bit, pull back on capacity, allow the demand to stay there, but shift it around to certain schedule points and certain destinations, but also using certain aircraft that are much more fuel efficient.’
Despite fears surrounding the summer holidays, Travel Extra editor Eoghan Corry has downplayed the crisis in Europe, saying that we import much of our jet fuel from sources other than the Strait.
Pic: Getty Images
He warned that prices might go up if there’s a shortage, however, but added that airlines ‘trimming back’ their schedules is entirely natural.
‘We aren’t seeing that in the market at present, and the other thing we’re not seeing is the trimming back of schedules due to fuel supply,’ he explained.
‘Aer Lingus has been trimming back schedules for maintenance reasons, people wouldn’t even notice it, but there’s no sign of Ryanair doing that.’
Speaking earlier this week, IEA Chief Executive Fatih Birol told the Associated Press that if supplies remain blocked, airlines across Europe could soon be forced to cut services due to shortages.
‘I can tell you that soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be canceled as a result of a lack of jet fuel,’ he said.
He added that the knock-on effects would be felt globally, with rising petrol, gas, and electricity prices likely, as well as slower economic growth and higher inflation.
‘The longer it goes, the worse it will be for the global economy,’ Birol said, noting that Asian countries heavily reliant on Middle Eastern energy, including Japan, India, and China, would be hit first, followed by Europe and the Americas.
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