What the Iran war has done to the world’s energy supply, in charts

Fossil fuels produce 81 percent of global energy. We look at the Middle East’s role and what happens when supplies are cut. Save Share A major energy conference is going ahead in Riyadh from Sunday despite a Houthiattackon the city’s King Khalid International Airport that killed 12 people and injured 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation. Saudi ⁠Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said on Sunday that the 25th ⁠World Petroleum Council Energy Congress has begun ‌in Riyadh. The 17th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial will be held on the sidelines of the conference, called Riyadh Energy Week, which is to run until Thursday. But Italy, the cohost of the IEF, will join the meeting via videolink. Nigeria, the other cohost, is sending a representative to the event. The IEF brings together 68 countries that account for more than 90 percent of global oil and gas supplies and demand. Its members include Saudi Arabia, the United States and Russia. The meeting comes as the US-Israel war on Iran has disrupted energy flows and pushed governments to reassess their energy security. In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera looks at where the world’s energy comes from, how much is produced in the Middle East and which countries have strategic reserves to fall back on. Energy heats our homes, fuels our cars, keeps the lights on and runs the factories that make what we buy. It comes from fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas as well as nuclear power and renewables. Despite rapid growth in renewables, fossil fuels still account for nearly 81 percent of global energy consumption. Oil is the largest source at 31.4 percent, followed by coal at 25.9 percent and natural gas at 23.5 percent. Traditional biomass, nuclear power and other sources make up the rest. Production is concentrated in a handful of regions, so disruptions in any of them ripple through global markets. The Middle East is the largest oil-producing region, and North America is the largest natural gas producer. Russia and Central Asia are also major producers of both. The Middle East’s importance to energy markets is also about geography. Three narrow waterways connect its producers with consumers around the world. Before the Iran war, about 27 percent of global seaborne oil trade and almost 20 percent of liquefied natural gas trade transited through the Strait of Hormuz on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula....