Enlarge imageBERLIN (Reuters) - The head of the West’s energy watchdog said in an interview on Saturday that Hurricane Katrina could spark a worldwide energy crisis if damage to U.S. refineries led to a big increase in U.S. purchases of European petrol.
"If the crisis affects oil products then it’s a worldwide crisis. No one should think this will be limited to the United States," Claude Mandil, head of the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) told German daily Die Welt.
"They are already buying gasoline in Europe. If the refineries are damaged, that will only increase. Then this will become a worldwide crisis very quickly."
Mandil told the paper that high oil prices represented a risk for global economic growth and urged consumers to alter their behaviour to save more energy and limit the fallout.
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Poor countries were bound to suffer most from a recent surge in energy prices, which has been aggravated by Katrina and the shortages it has caused, he said.
On Friday, the IEA launched a rescue plan to ease those shortages, saying its 26 members would release two million barrels per day of oil over a 30-day period.
U.S. gasoline prices have spiked by nearly a fifth over the past week, pushing up fuel prices around the world.
