Woke Energy Policy Update - Oct 11

[dan_s]

The Green New Deal hasn't and will not delivered the "clean" energy it promises. FEAR has caused lack of investment in upstream oil & gas exploration which will result in a prolonged period of high energy prices and more coal being burned for power generation.

On October 8, Reuters reported Chinese officials have ordered the country's two top coal regions to act immediately to expand their annual production capacity by more than 160 million tonnes as China battles its worst power crunch and coal shortage in years. The authorities face prices at record highs and electricity shortages that have prompted power rationing across the country, crippling industrial output. Shanxi, China's biggest coal-producing region, ordered its 98 coal mines to raise their annual output capacity by 55.3 million tonnes over the remainder of the year, an official from the provincial government confirmed on Friday in a document reviewed by Reuters.

On October 8, Reuters reported North Indian states have suffered electricity cuts and face further outages because of a lack of coal, an analysis of government data and interviews with residents found, contradicting government assurances there is enough power. The shortages in India - the world's largest coal consumer after China - follow widespread outages in neighboring China, which has shut factories and schools to manage the crisis. Over half of India's 135 coal-fired power plants, which in total supply around 70% of India's electricity, have fuel stocks of less than three days, data from the federal grid operator showed.

On October 7, Reuters reported soaring gas prices as winter approaches are likely to drive a switch to oil that boosts global crude demand by several hundred thousand barrels per day squeezing already tight supply, analysts forecast. Natural gas prices, particularly in Europe, have spiked this year buoyed by a combination of low inventories, low supplies and higher Asian demand. The jump in energy costs has led manufacturers to curtail activity from Spain to Britain and helped sparked power crises in China. The Paris-based International Energy Agency offered an estimate of 150-200,000 b/d into the first quarter of next year, saying countries most likely to perform the switch included Middle Eastern states, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

On October 6, Platts reported that global oil demand is set to recover to its pre-pandemic level toward the end of 2022, supported by demand growth in Asia, and increase for several more years to come without additional major government policy changes, according to the head of the International Energy Agency. He was quoted as saying, "by the end of 2022, it is expected to be 1.5 million b/d higher than at the end of 2019. Our analysis shows that although the Covid-19 crisis caused a historic decline in global oil demand, it's not necessarily a lasting one. If we don't see additional major policy changes from governments and more rapid changes in behavior, then global oil demand is set to increase for several more years to come."