Letter from China: Covid resurgence compounds economic concerns
China’s economy faces headwinds that go beyond than the arrival of the Delta variant
China’s worst Covid-19 outbreak since the virus first emerged is adding to the growing list of challenges facing the country’s economy, raising concerns about a slowdown in growth that could have consequences for domestic energy demand. The central city of Wuhan—synonymous with the coronavirus when the pandemic started 18 months ago—detected three new cases on Monday, which were the city’s first since May 2020. The cases add to an increasingly severe outbreak of the Delta variant that started at an airport in the eastern city of Nanjing last month and has now spread to more than 20 cities in nearly half of China’s 31 provinces. 7.9pc – China’s below-forecast April-June GDP growth Whi
Also in this section
19 February 2026
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy has grown its business rapidly since exporting its first cargo a decade ago. But Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin tells Petroleum Economist that, as in the past, the company’s future expansion plans are anchored by high levels of contracted offtake, supporting predictable returns on investment
19 February 2026
Growth in LNG supply will surpass the rise in demand in 2026 for the first time in years, according to Mike Fulwood, senior research fellow at the OIES, but lower prices are likely to encourage fuel switching and could create more demand on a permanent basis
19 February 2026
Awais Ali Butt, manager for sales and business development at Pakistan LNG Ltd, discusses LNG’s role in energy security across developing, price-sensitive economies, as well as examining trade-offs between buying strategies and the impact of lower prices and policy on import behaviour
19 February 2026
LNG’s technical maturity, availability and price, as well as regulation, have driven its rapid adoption as a marine fuel, yet its future in shipping will depend on transition policies and progress in cutting methane emissions and scaling bio- and synthetic LNG, according to Carlos Guerrero at Bureau Veritas






