DOB Energy

Canada can provide energy security through ‘greatest energy crisis in history’: IEA’s Birol

By Cathryn Atkinson May 06, 2026

OTTAWA - Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told an Ottawa audience that given current geopolitical tensions, the number one global challenge is energy security.

“Maybe the second and third are energy security as well,” he noted.

Birol said Canada to date remains “a bit insulated” from the worst consequences of the instability and is experiencing a “once in a generation opportunity” as a result.

Birol spoke at the National Arts Centre on May 5, alongside Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, in a chat hosted by Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Asked by Laing what keeps him awake at night given the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and their impacts on the oil and gas markets, he said, “phone calls.”

“Members from Asia, Europe, and in North America, and, of course, these days are very, very difficult days,” Birol said.

“I believe [the Iran war and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz] will not only change the energy world, but it will change the world order big time. Big time.

“Maybe it is not your daily issue here [in Canada], but it will be your daily issue soon, I can tell you.”

Birol said that in the weeks following start of the Iran-U.S. war on Feb. 28, the IEA focused on following the logistical changes to the energy industry in the Middle East due to blockades, attacks and bombings.

After three weeks, he said, the IEA realized that the world didn't understand the scale of the problem, which he described as the “greatest energy crisis in history.”

He compared the current conflict with the 1973 oil crisis, the 1979 oil crisis, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent gas crisis in Europe, and the amount of oil and gas removed from the Middle East’s export supply.

“The amount of oil the world lost in the first oil crisis was five million barrels per day. [For the] second one, five million barrels per day. Two of them put together, 10 million barrels per day,” Birol said.

“And in this crisis, we already lose 14 million barrels per day, so much more than two of [the earlier] oil crises put together.”

Canada’s trust factor and energy security aims

Hodgson acknowledged Canada’s relative stability in the current crisis and said looking at the IEA’s data on the conflict shows him that the world is “weeks away from many of our allies starting to shut down operations, because they won't have energy.”

Hodgson said the upside for Canada was that as the country retools its economy for the nation, there is an opportunity to “retool it for the world,” with a once in a generation chance to accelerate development of LNG, nuclear energy, CCUS, and rare earth mining.

He said it was not an accident that the first piece of legislation passed by the government of Mark Carney was the Building Canada Act, followed by the creation of the Major Projects Office (MPO) and a renewed commitment to both partnerships with First Nations and retaining strong environmental standards.

Birol said that trust factor, coupled with strong business practices and national stability will mean that buyers of Canadian energy will be willing to pay more to have that security, going forward.

He said countries will think twice building future trade relations where trouble could develop.

“Maybe it is better now to pay 10 per cent more to get LNG or nuclear technology from the other country [that] will never, ever use energy as a political weapon,” Birol said.

“So here comes Canada… it has an impeccable reputation, AAA democracy, rule-of-law, and is a trusted partner.”

“Reliable energy,” whether LNG or nuclear, has risen to the top of importance for IEA members such as India, African nations, Indonesia, Japan and Korea in conversations Birol has had in recent weeks.

“This is a very important asset you have, and you should pay a lot of attention to this,” he said.

“I am very happy to [see] the increase of pace and the speed of bringing the projects to the market. I am very happy to see that.”