EU Assessing ‘All Possibilities’ Including Fuel Rationing Amid Energy Crisis

Iran has allowed some ships through the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, but traffic is down by more than 90 percent.

Mockups of Iranian missiles displayed outside a museum in Tehran, Iran, on March 31, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

The European Union’s energy commissioner, Dan Jorgensen, says the bloc is assessing “all possibilities,” including fuel rationing, amid growing supply challenges triggered by the conflict in Iran.

“This will be a long crisis,“ Jorgensen told the Financial Times, ”Energy prices will be higher for a very long time.”

The European Commission (EC) has previously urged member countries to reduce oil and gas use.

In a statement on March 31, Jorgensen said EU member states should “take action in unity and close coordination” and ”avoid fragmented national responses and disruptive signals to the market.”

In an interview, published by the Financial Times on April 7, Jorgensen said: “The rhetoric that we’re using and the words we’re using are more serious now than they were earlier in the crisis.

“It certainly is our analysis that this will be a prolonged situation and countries need to be sure that they ... have what they need.”

Jorgensen said the EU was “not in a security of supply crisis, yet,” but that Brussels was considering how to deal with the situation if it is not resolved soon.

Preparing for ‘Worst Scenarios’

He said the 27-member bloc was “preparing for the worst scenarios” but that there was no need yet to ration jet fuel or diesel.

Jorgensen’s comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline nears for the Iranian regime to reach a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz to international maritime traffic.

The strait, shared by Iran and Oman, is a critical waterway that, during peacetime, carries around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas shipments.

“This is a critical period. They have a period of, well, till tomorrow at 8 o’clock,” Trump said on April 6. “Now, we’ll see what happens. I can tell you they’re negotiating, we think, in good faith. We’re going to find out.”

Iran’s state-owned IRNA news agency said on its Telegram channel on April 6 that Tehran had sent a counterproposal via Pakistan, which consists of 10 clauses, including a protocol for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions, and a permanent end to the conflict in the region, rather than a temporary cease-fire.

Iran has allowed some ships through the strait in recent weeks, passing through a “tollbooth” north of Larak island, but traffic is down by more than 90 percent from the same period last year.

The price of Brent crude oil hit a high of $111.89 late on April 5 but was trading at $109.22 as of 6.20 a.m. ET on April 7.

On March 24, Shell CEO Wael Sawan told a conference in Houston that energy shortages hitting parts of Asia could spread to Europe as early as April.

“We see South Asia first to get that brunt; that moves to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and then more so into Europe as we get into April,” Sawan said.

India Rationing LPG Cylinders

India is facing a shortage of liquid petroleum gas (LPG), used mostly for cooking, due to restrictions imposed by Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, and has introduced rationing of LPG cylinders.

The energy crisis threatens to push global inflation higher and slow economic growth, and several European countries have taken measures to adapt.

On March 31, the lower house of the Italian parliament voted in favor of legislation that would push back the closure of its coal-fired power stations to 2038.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government wants to dial back net-zero policies amid growing energy supply ​challenges triggered by the conflict in Iran.