'Russia will lose the energy battle,' says IEA chief Fatih Birol

Russia will lose the energy battle it is waging against the West, according to Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

"Just before the invasion [of Ukraine], about 65% of the Russian total gas exports went to Europe and 55% of the Russian oil export went to Europe," Birol told Euronews on Friday afternoon.

"Europe was by far the largest market, the largest client for Russia, and Russia lost this client forever. The biggest client."

Birol's comments appeared to refer to the retaliatory action that the European Union has taken in response to the Ukraine war: a near-total oil embargo of Russian gas and a highly expensive push to diversify gas suppliers, mainly through liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Asked if Russia could replace European clients with other regions, Birol said that would not be easy because "a big chunk" of Russian gas originates in Western Siberia and then flows to Europe via pipelines.

Building brand-new pipelines to China or India could take up to 10 years, he predicted, and a significant amount of technology and investment.

"You are not selling onions in the market, you are selling natural gas. It's a different business," Birol said. "So to replace the natural gas exports to Europe with Russia is, in the short term, a pipe dream."

But Russia is not the only country going through troubled times.

In his interview with Euronews, recorded at the IEA's headquarters in Paris, Birol spoke of an international crisis of unprecedented scope and reach, wreaking havoc in all corners of the world.

"We are in the middle of the first truly global energy crisis. Our world has never, ever witnessed an energy crisis with this depth and with this complexity," he said.

"In the 1970s, we had an oil