{"id":382419,"date":"2026-04-05T00:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382419\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T00:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:31:24","slug":"eu-considers-fuel-rationing-amid-long-crisis-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382419\/","title":{"rendered":"EU considers fuel ‘rationing’ amid long crisis warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU is considering \u2018all possibilities\u2019 including fuel rationing and releasing more emergency oil reserves as it braces for \u2018long-lasting\u2019 energy shocks from the Iranian war.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s Energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen told the Financial Times<\/a> yesterday that \u2018this will be a long crisis\u2009\u2019 and that \u2018energy prices will be higher for a very long time.\u2019<\/p>\n

He said supplies of \u2018critical\u2019 products are expected \u2018to be even worse in the weeks to come\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pic: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The continued effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, through which 20% of the world\u2019s oil passed until the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, has created turmoil on the energy markets, with soaring pricings and long-term supply fears.<\/p>\n

Mr Jorgensen said: \u2018The rhetoric that we\u2019re using and the words we\u2019re using are more serious now than they were earlier in the crisis.<\/p>\n

\u2018It certainly is our analysis that this will be a prolonged situation and countries need to be sure that they have what they need.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"Transport Minister Darragh O\u2019Brien. Pic: Fran Veale<\/p>\n

He said that while the EU was \u2018not in a security of supply crisis, yet\u2019, Brussels is drawing up plans to tackle \u2018structural, long-lasting effects\u2019 of the conflict.<\/p>\n

The EU is drawing up a series of scenarios to prepare for the worst eventualities.<\/p>\n

However, Mr Jorgensen insisted the EU will not change legislation banning imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG] this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pic: Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The war is set to lead to a summer of chaos for travellers, with airlines already set to cancel hundreds of flights due to jet fuel shortages.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week Ryanair boss Michael O\u2019Leary warned of disruption during May and June if the war drags on.<\/p>\n

The Government is facing further pressure to provide even greater supports to businesses and vulnerable energy users.<\/p>\n

\"\"Michael O\u2019Leary. Pic: Thierry Monasse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A fortnight ago the Government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by 15c and 20c respectively, it also introduced an increased diesel rebate for hauliers and bus operators and extended the fuel allowance by four weeks to 470,000 households.<\/p>\n

Minister for Transport and Energy Darragh O\u2019Brien yesterday held an online meeting with the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) to discuss the ongoing impact of the war in Iran on fuel prices in Ireland.<\/p>\n

The IRHA are seeking further supports from the Government<\/a> to ease the pressure caused by the spike in prices triggered by the war.<\/p>\n

\"03.12.2025.Micheal Martin. Pic: Sam Boal\/Collins Photos<\/p>\n

The hauliers said that the supports are not adequate given prices have increased by more than 35% since the initial round of Government measures were announced.<\/p>\n

The hauliers told the Minister that their sector must be prioritised if fuel rationing is introduced.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Brien is due to meet with EU Transport ministers next week and agreed to raise the situation there.<\/p>\n

Deputy Vice President of the IHRA Eugene Drennan told RT\u00c9\u2019s Morning Ireland yesterday that the price of fuel \u2018has now gone way past\u2019 what it was when the first package of supports was announced.<\/p>\n

Mr Drennan added: \u2018There are various things they can do and irrespective of the cost to the Exchequer, we are led to believe that we have funds that we put away for the rainy day.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re very close to a national emergency here. They must react and they must react swiftly and quickly.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast on Thursday, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said that supports would be kept under review and will be considered if the war persists.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach warned that the world was \u2018on the precipice\u2019 of a major energy and economic crisis.<\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il leader said that the knock-on effects would impact on aviation, agriculture and manufacturing.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said the Government is monitoring fuel supplies and prices closely, with around 90 days of reserves available through the National Oil Reserves Agency, but said rationing wasn\u2019t on the table just yet.<\/p>\n

In relation to concerns around fuel pricing and gouging Mr Martin said that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has been asked to continue monitoring the market to ensure there is no price gouging.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018We\u2019ve asked the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to keep a weather vane on all of that.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The EU is considering \u2018all possibilities\u2019 including fuel rationing and releasing more emergency oil reserves as it braces…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60],"class_list":["post-382419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}