IEA Announces Global Oil Shortage Surpasses All Crises, But Gas in Liepāja Still More Expensive Than in Riga

The International Energy Agency has loudly announced that the Middle Eastern war has created the greatest upheaval in oil markets in history. The Strait of Hormuz is nearly blocked, oil prices have risen 40-50 percent, and experts are talking about an apocalypse. In Liepāja, they're reacting calmly to these news – as gas station owner Gunārs from Karosta says: 'I have nothing to worry about, our prices have always been apocalyptic anyway.'

While Persian Gulf countries are reducing oil production by ten million barrels per day, economics students at the University of Liepāja have calculated that fuel prices in our city have been higher than the global average ever since the tram was put into operation. 'We've been in crisis for years,' explains third-year student Edgars. 'So this global oil apocalypse doesn't seem that dramatic to us.'

The IEA promises to release 400 million barrels from reserves, which is twice as much as at the start of the Ukraine war. But as local driver Valdis points out: 'They can release as much as they want, but as long as we have to drive to Riga to get normal prices, the situation won't change.' Iran threatens to block all oil exports, but Liepāja residents respond with a shrug – we've long been blocked by distance and monopolists.

Meanwhile, an expert from the 'Vējš' editorial office notes that the only good news in this situation is that now everyone in the world pays as much for fuel as we always have. 'Finally we've become trendsetters,' laughs one local driver while filling up his tank and crying.