The head of the International Energy Agency has said energy prices may spike again this winter, forcing government to subsidise bills – just days after state support for UK households fell away. Fatih Birol said a rapid improvement in the Chinese economy, coupled with a harsh winter, could put pressure on gas supplies and push up bills for consumers. He said the agency “cannot rule out” another spike in gas prices this winter, which would mirror last year when a surge in wholesale costs as a result of Russia’s invasion…
Tag: Energy industry
Global oil demand on course for record as China’s economy rebounds
Global demand for oil this year is on track to rise to a record 101.9m barrels per day as China leads an economic surge among developing nations, the world’s leading energy body has forecast. The International Energy Agency’s predicted daily average for 2023 is 2m bpd higher than last year’s figure. The price of a barrel of oil rose from $85.62 (£68.44) to $86.10 on Friday morning after the IEA’s report was published. The agency warned that a recent decision by the world’s biggest oil exporters to cut their production…
China approves biggest expansion in new coal power plants since 2015, report finds
China approved the construction of another 106 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity last year, four times higher than a year earlier and the highest since 2015, research shows. Over the year, 50GW of coal power capacity went into construction across the country – up by more than half compared with the previous year – driven by energy security considerations, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said on Monday. “The speed at which projects progressed through permitting to construction in 2022 was…
China’s future to AI and jobs: five big questions from Davos
A number of big themes emerged from the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort Davos. Here are five of most pressing questions that came to dominate this year’s gathering of the global elite. Will China be forced to make friends with the west? Donald Trump’s trade war with China – continued by his successor Joe Biden – has left relations between east and west at rock bottom. But with Covid and trade tensions halving Chinese growth last year to just 3% and western businesses such as Apple moving business…
Lady of the Gobi: trucking coal across the desert to China
On Mongolia’s coal highway to the Chinese border, truck driver Maikhuu dreams of a better life and financial security for her three children. However, the road from the mines to China is riddled with accidents, toxic pollution, poor hygiene and now, amid the Covid crisis, drivers face days of quarantine on the border. Trapped in a hazardous industry, Maikhuu’s journey reflects the human and environmental costs of Mongolia’s mining boom The Guardian
Oil prices hit lowest level since Ukraine invasion on China growth fears
Global oil prices have dropped amid concerns over weaker growth in the Chinese economy caused by repeated Covid lockdowns and a downturn in the property sector. A barrel of Brent crude fell by about 5% to below $94 (£78) on Monday, hitting the joint lowest levels since the Russian invasion of Ukraine as traders reacted to weaker figures from the world’s second-largest economy. China’s central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates on its key lending facilities for the second time this year after disappointing official growth figures. Factory output in the…