The rebound in energy demand, supply cuts by OPEC+ deal, and global transport bottlenecks that have disrupted fuel distribution have resulted in high prices of crude oil, coal, and natural gas. Among the consequences of these issues are petrol stations running dry in the UK, power prices skyrocketing in the European Union ahead of winter, and Chinese provinces rationing power to industrial and residential users.
However, analysts said that energy shortages in these regions have more to do with local policies and regional dynamics rather than a worldwide energy shortage. In China, power generators shut down their coal-fired units as regulated power prices prevented them from operating economically amid high costs. The China Electricity Council on Monday said coal-fired plants had increased their procurement channels at any cost to guarantee supplies in the coming winter. However, boosting imports may be easier said than done. Russia is prioritising supply to Europe, Indonesia’s output is reined in by rains, while trucking constraints hinder imports from Mongolia.
Power prices have spiked across the EU in recent weeks due to low natural gas inventories, lower output from the region’s wind and solar farms, and maintenance shutdowns at some nuclear plants. This has sparked concerns about potential power supply tightness when demand rises during the winter. Spain, Italy, and Greece have prepared national measures, including subsidies and price caps, to protect consumers from rising costs during the recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In some parts of the UK, fuel pumps run dry following panic-buying by drivers amid one of the country’s worst energy disruptions in decades. However, analysts said that the problem is not a fuel shortage but a lack of truck drivers to deliver the fuel from refineries to petrol stations. The trucker shortage is one of the effects of the country’s exit from the EU. The government has been issuing temporary visas for foreign truckers to alleviate the disruption.
