LNG market under increasing pressure

Gas and renewables have both been resilient during the pandemic, but pressure to decarbonise will soon challenge gas and LNG

The Covid-19 pandemic roiled energy markets during 2020, with estimated full-year global energy demand decreasing by 5pc. Oil demand was hit the hardest—plummeting approximately 10pc—due to mandatory lockdowns and curtailed mobility. By comparison, natural gas and power demand are less sensitive to reduced mobility and have therefore shown much greater resilience, declining by approximately 3pc and 2pc respectively, as residential electricity consumption increased during the lockdowns and commercial and industrial power consumption rebounded with economic reopening. The short-term decline in electricity demand, as well as prices, has accentuated the value of flexible and low-cost generation