ISTANBUL, April 21. /TASS/. More than 80 energy facilities have been damaged during the Iranian conflict, according to Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

"As a result of the attacks in the Middle East, 84 energy facilities have been struck; 34 of them sustained very serious damage," he told the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

According to him, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz poses a significant threat to global energy security. Birol noted that around 13 million barrels of oil pass through the strait daily, out of global demand of about 100 million barrels. Losses in natural gas supplies to global markets during the conflict amount to roughly 100 billion cubic meters, he added.

"Even if the Strait of Hormuz were reopened immediately in a way satisfactory to all parties, it would be overly optimistic to expect oil and natural gas supplies to return to pre-war levels in a short term. It could take at least two years for production to return to normal at these damaged facilities, and in some cases more than two years," the IEA chief said.

Birol also noted that there are currently more than 200 oil tankers and 10 LNG carriers in the Persian Gulf region.