Demand for coal and natural gas has exceeded pre-COVID-19 highs with oil not far behind, dealing a setback to hopes the pandemic would spur a faster transition to clean energy from fossil fuels.
Global natural gas shortages, record gas and coal prices, a power crunch in China and a three-year high on oil prices all tell one story — demand for energy has roared back and the world still needs fossil fuels to meet most of those energy needs.
"The demand fall during the pandemic was entirely linked to governments' decision to restrict movements and had nothing to do with the energy transition," said Cuneyt Kazokoglu, head of oil demand analysis at FGE.
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