Energising Projects to Go Green: The Impact of the Pandemic and War on Global Energy Markets

September 21, 2022
Just when it seemed the world might be returning to some version of “normal”, the Russian invasion of Ukraine taught us, once again, that it is perhaps more cogent to expect the unexpected. We’ve covered the ramifications of this war on the legal community in Russia, Ukraine and beyond. In this issue, we take a moment to consider the consequences of the ongoing conflict on energy markets globally, including volatility in fossil fuel prices and the reassessment of energy security risks, together with an update on projects across the Middle East and Asia. CONFLICT CAUSING CRISIS The International Energy Agency (IEA) has called the energy fallout following the war in Ukraine our “first truly global energy crisis in history”. The European Union is directly reliant on Russia for gas, with 40% of the EU’s gas coming from Russia in 2021, accounting for 75% of Russia’s exported gas volume. China and Japan are similarly large importers of gas, seeing 9.2 and 8.8bcm, respectively from Russa each year. European nations also take top spot as users of Russian oil, accounting for two-thirds of Russia’s exports, with a fifth exported to China (the single biggest buyer in 2021 according to the IEA). These figures are, however, expected to change significantly in the short term as nations rethink reliance on Russian fuels. Ramifications of this instability, of course, extend far beyond these direct importers. While the COVID-19 pandemic saw global oils prices slump to USD 14 per barrel in April 2020, March 2022 saw them fly to USD 133 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Cost of living prices globally have...