Webinar: Embracing Change - The Future of the Energy Industry

In 2020, global electricity demand fell by 5%, the largest drop since the 1930 global economic crisis, according to the IEA. Furthermore, all fuels saw a decline, except for renewable energy, which grew by 1% last year. Oil demand had seen some recovery in 2020, but the rebound slowed considerably in November, and slipped in December as renewed lockdowns and rising infection rates, due to the global pandemic, hit consumption. The IEA subsequently slashed its oil demand outlook for 2021 by 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 5.5 million bpd. While it is difficult to predict the direction of oil prices due to the uncertainty of demand, experts suggest a recovery could be underway at the beginning of 2022, given that vaccinations continue to be rolled out successfully worldwide. Natural gas markets, on the other hand, have drastically changed since the beginning of last year. The cold winter season in North Asia, outages at major LNG exporters, and shipping constraints pushed gas prices higher. As a result, spot LNG prices in Asia soared 18 times from April 2020 lows. Spain, home to one of Europe’s biggest LNG terminals, has also seen natural gas prices more than double since the start of the year amid an icy winter. Many countries are now working on improving their energy security by continuing to embrace alternative sources like solar, and blends of hydrogen and compressed natural gas. There are other dynamics at play, such as US President Joe Biden’s re-joining of the Paris climate accord, which will see the US government regulate methane emissions and take other actions to tackle the climate crisis. As the world enters into a new year, and as governments look to rebuild their respective economies, this webinar will provide new insights into recent developments and major forces that will shape the global energy market in 2021 and beyond.