The European Commission said Friday that oil trade flows tied to the Middle East are slowly beginning to recover after last week’s U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, but warned that supplies from the region will still take time to reach Europe.
The update came after a meeting of the EU’s Oil Coordination Group, which reviewed the bloc’s oil-supply security amid continuing disruption around the Strait of Hormuz. The Commission said the petroleum-products market had shown “depth and resilience,” helped by collective action through the International Energy Agency and by replacement imports.
The statement gives the Iran crisis a fresh energy-security angle: even as the diplomatic deal has allowed some shipping to resume, Europe is still managing lagging deliveries and a fragile maritime picture around one of the world’s most important chokepoints.
Jet fuel strain has been limited, EU says
The Commission said Europe’s jet fuel market had managed to limit the impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure by partially replacing missing Middle East volumes with imports from other sources and increased EU production.
For crude oil, the group described the situation as stable for now, largely because global stock draws in recent months had cushioned the market. The Commission said it and EU member states would keep monitoring supply security and coordinate action if needed.
Hormuz risks have not disappeared
The EU assessment came as oil prices remained sensitive to developments in the strait. Al Jazeera reported that Brent crude eased Friday after an earlier spike linked to the International Maritime Organization’s decision to pause a planned evacuation of ships stranded around Hormuz.
That pause followed a report that a cargo vessel had been hit by an “unknown projectile” while attempting to cross the strait near the Omani coast. Al Jazeera reported that U.S. officials had attributed the attack to Iran, citing multiple media reports including Reuters, while Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority warned that vessels using routes outside its designated framework would not be guaranteed safe passage.
About one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies transit the Strait of Hormuz in peacetime, making even limited disruption expensive for refiners, airlines, shipping firms and governments trying to keep fuel markets steady.
Why it matters
The Commission’s statement suggests the immediate panic in European oil supply has eased, but not ended. The key problem is timing: ships may be moving again, but delayed cargoes still have to travel, unload and reach downstream markets.
That means the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding is not yet translating into normal energy conditions. For Europe, the crisis has shifted from an emergency shortage scare to a test of whether alternative imports, stock draws and renewed Hormuz traffic can hold together while negotiations continue.
Sources: European Commission Directorate-General for Energy, Al Jazeera, The National.