First posted on Instagram
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Europe has paid an additional €127 billion for fossil fuel imports since the Strait of Hormuz was closed, without receiving any additional energy in return. She made the remarks at the WinWin Summit in Brussels, an event focused on start-ups.
"Since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, imported fossil fuels cost Europe an additional €127 billion without a single molecule of energy in addition," she said. "€127 billion just because of the closure of this Strait of Hormuz. So when we import oil and gas, we also risk importing the shocks and the crisis that come with them."
Iran effectively closed the strategic waterway after the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February 2026, and launched attacks on neighbouring countries' energy infrastructure. Before the war, roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the strait.
Von der Leyen used the figure to argue that Europe must cut its dependence on imported oil and gas, saying the clean transition is also about Europe's competitiveness and independence, and that Europe's path is to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
Her remarks came a day after the United States struck Iran's Qeshm Island, in the strait, on the night of November 2, in what Washington described as a defensive measure to protect American military assets. Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have both threatened to renew strikes on Iran following the United States midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading at around $106 per barrel by Tuesday noon Central European Time, up around 1 percent for the day.
The €127 billion figure is an update on her earlier estimate: in her State of the Union address on September 16, von der Leyen put the extra fossil fuel cost at €90 billion. Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week that businesses and consumers in Europe had paid more than €100 billion extra because energy had become more expensive as a result of the conflict.
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