Markets in Motion
Establishing Energy Security
Global energy markets were rocked after sanctions on Russia and record-level inflation — leading to concerns about energy security across the globe, especially as winter nears in the Northern Hemisphere.
Published: November 18, 2022
Updated: December 12, 2022
Subscribe to S&P Global's Research & Insights
Subscribe to start every business day with our analyses of the most pressing developments affecting markets today, alongside a curated selection of our latest and most important insights on the global economy.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTERSCOP27
Energy Security Concerns Collide With Climate Agenda
The convergence of energy security and the climate agenda is likely to be a focal point at COP27.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has caused severe energy supply disruption in the EU and forced a near-term policy divergence between energy security and the climate agenda.
Amid historical inflationary pressures and higher fuel and food prices — driven in part by the conflict in Ukraine — governments face trade-offs between immediate energy security priorities and the longer-term energy transition agenda. The imperative to find immediate alternatives to Russian gas imports has prompted a temporary suspension or reversal of several key EU climate objectives, including the planned phase-out of coal, threatening the EU's global leadership on climate policy.
This problem is compounded by EU member states scrambling to restock gas reserves before winter by bidding for LNG, pricing out developing countries, such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, and causing them to revert to or increase coal- and oil-based generation.
COP27: Framing Water Scarcity And Food Security As Global Issues
Latin American countries will probably present water concerns as an umbrella problem at COP27, linking it to global food insecurity, loss and damage from climate change, and the need to promote sustainable agriculture.
Read the ArticleEnergyCents — Ep 86: Balancing Act: COP27 And The Influence Of Energy Security On A Climate Agenda
Climate policy experts Anna Mosby and Conway Irwin join EnergyCents to share expectations for COP27 and consider how the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act may shape the United States’ presence during this year’s talks.
Read the Article
Platts Market Data - Energy Transition
Platts Market Data – Energy Transition provides access to the full breadth and depth of our energy transition market data, including contract price assessments.
ACCESS MOREEnergy Transition
Middle East Oil and Gas Majors Striking a Balance Between Providing Low Carbon Intensity Energy Supply and Moving Towards Net-Zero Emissions
Following the UN Climate Conference, COP26, in Glasgow in 2021 and the subsequent COP27 event in Egypt this year, major Middle East E&P companies are performing a balancing act of producing sustainable low-carbon intensive energy, amid accelerated momentum towards net-zero emissions.
Operators, however, are at the same time responding to a surge in demand for a secure and affordable energy source, as well as trying to fill the gap in the supply disruption, triggered by the current and ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Listen: Middle East Promotes Compatibility Of Energy Security And Energy Transition
Read the ArticleOpinion: We Need Resilience In Our Energy Systems
Our global energy systems, launched through the Paris Agreement on a transition to a world aspiring to net-zero emissions, have found through the war in Ukraine that they do not have the resilience to keep the world supplied with the resources needed to sustain jobs and economic growth.
Read the ReportEurope Facing Gas Insecurity, 'Uncontrolled Deindustrialization' Through 2025
Europe will likely manage a drop in Russian natural gas supplies this winter as the war in Ukraine grinds on, but upcoming heating seasons will stress the continent's ability to meet energy demand, experts said during the Columbia Global Energy Summit in New York.
Read the Article
Asia's Energy Security
Hundreds of millions of people in Asia were lifted out of poverty in recent decades due in no small part to cheap and secure energy. Today, however, Asia's energy security faces a barrage of challenges.
READ AND SUBSCRIBEEnergy Security in China
China Independents' Relentless Buying Of Russian Crude Slows As Sanctions Near
The relentless buying spree of China's independent refiners for attractively priced Russian crudes is finally showing signs of slowing in November as importers pause for breath and wait for developments ahead of the imposition of EU sanctions, a trend that could potentially ease loading volumes for December and January.
Russian crude imports by independent refiners rose 3.9% month on month to 2.49 million mt in October and were the highest since January, but some major suppliers of Russian ESPO crudes have since started to suspend business because of the looming sanctions, market sources said.
Only two cargoes for December loading were heard to have traded in the past two weeks, compared with 24 cargoes imported in October.
Feedstock Import Trend of China’s Independent Refiners So Far In 2022
China's Newly Commissioned Iron And Steel Capacity Add To Supply Pressure
China's steel production continues to show a modest decline despite steelmakers facing poor profit margins, on the back of new pig iron and crude steel capacity launched in recent months, while a lack of any large-scale output cuts is failing to add pressure on production.
Read the ArticleFuel For Thought: As Asia Focuses On Energy Security, Diplomacy Takes A Backseat
At a time when keeping fuel affordable is the prime concern of many import-dependent Asia energy consumers, diplomacy may be the last thing on the minds of their policymakers.
READ THE ARTICLESaudi Arabia, China To Work Together On Energy Security
Saudi Arabia and China stressed the importance of reliable, long-term oil supply to the markets amid changing geopolitical situations, as Riyadh-led OPEC+ looks to ease concerns about the 2 million b/d supply cuts scheduled to come into place from November onward.
Read the Article
Europe’s Tricky Gas Balancing Act
Global energy markets have been rocked by the Russia-Ukraine conflict this year. Amid the loss of the Nord Stream gas pipeline and sanctions on Russia, Europe faces an energy crisis marked by high prices and low supply, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Read and SubscribeGlobal Gas
Germany Currently In 'Comfortable' Position On Gas Supply Security: Regulator
Germany is currently in a "comfortable" position regarding its gas supply security, but demand reduction efforts are still needed to ensure there are no gas shortages this winter, the regulator Bundesnetzagentur said Oct. 20.
The regulator presented four scenarios for the upcoming winter, which differ depending on the level of imports and winter weather-related demand projections in Germany and its neighbors.
Northwest European LNG Project Landscape
U.S. FERC's Winter Reliability Report Highlights Gas Supply, Extreme Weather Risks
The U.S. is expected to have sufficient power generation headed into what is projected to be a relatively mild winter, but natural gas supplies remain a concern in the fuel-constrained Northeast, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's annual winter reliability assessment.
Read the ArticleWhen Will European Gas Prices Come Back Down Again?
One question that we would all like to know the answer to is when will European gas prices come back down again? A forward curve is not always a reliable indicator of what will happen in the future, but it does give us some insight into how the market is viewing things today.
Read the ArticleBig October Chill Puts U.S. Midwest Gas Market On Alert As Storage Deficit Widens
Unseasonably cold weather across the central U.S. this month is resetting the outlook for winter gas prices at Midwest hubs as storage injection demand falters, leaving regional inventories at risk.
Read the Article