The energy crisis caused by the war in the Middle East could deal a devastating blow to Europe's economy, writes The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

This will be a bitter surprise for the region, which had hoped to accelerate economic growth this year after a long stagnation which had already raised a wave of discontent across the continent, adds WSJ.

It emphasizes that the increase in energy prices could accelerate the process of deindustrialization, as energy-intensive industries—such as the chemical industry—are closing their factories in Europe and moving production to the US and China.

Gerhard Freitag, the head of one of the plants of the German agricultural machinery company Claas, said that transportation costs have already increased. And Claas CEO Jan-Hendrik Mohr said rising prices for resources—from diesel to fertilizer—were reducing the already low profitability of farms. He stressed that this could lead to higher food prices.

And Capital Economics chief economist Neil Shearing said that with economic growth of around 1%, oil prices of $125 or more per barrel could push Europe into recession.