Western sanctions against Russia and Moscow’s retaliatory measures will have big implications for the global energy market, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said in Vienna on Friday.

“I believe that we are in the middle of the first global energy crisis. In the 70s we saw the oil crisis, which had great consequences for the economy and inflation. But then it was only oil,” he said.

“Let’s remember that Russia … is the world’s number one oil and natural gas exporter, as well as a major player in the market for materials used by the energy sector,” Birol added.

“Therefore, the sanctions that were imposed on Russia or political decisions from the Kremlin have and will have great consequences for the energy market.”

According to Birol, it would be too optimistic to believe that the current volatility in the energy market could end soon and that the world could return to times of low prices and stable market conditions.

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