Tightening markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG) worldwide and major oil producers cutting supply have put the world in the middle of "the first truly global energy crisis", head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol said on Tuesday.
Rising imports of LNG to Europe amid the Ukraine crisis and a potential rebound in Chinese appetite for the fuel will tighten the market as only 20 billion cubic meters of new LNG capacity will come to market next year, the IEA Executive Director said during the Singapore International Energy Week.
Soaring global prices across a number of energy sources, including oil, natural gas and coal, are hammering consumers at the same time they are already dealing with rising food and services inflation.
For oil, consumption is expected to grow by 1.7 million bpd in 2023 so the world will still need Russian oil to meet demand, Birol said.
G7 nations have proposed a mechanism that would allow emerging nations to buy Russian oil but at lower prices to cap Moscow's revenues in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
Birol said the scheme still has many details to iron out and will require the buy-in of major oil importing nations.
The IEA has revised up the forecast of renewable power capacity growth in 2022 to a 20% year-on-year increase from 8% previously, with close to 400 gigawatts of renewable capacity being added this year.
