LNG

A worsening LNG and fuel supply crunch is hitting Asian economies, pushing up electricity prices, shipping and airfare costs. The United Nations Development Programme estimates that Middle East‑related disruptions could inflicting about $299 billion in economic losses on the Asia‑Pacific region, with around 8.8 million people are at risk of being pushed into poverty.

Asian economies take advantage of falling LNG prices by switching from gas- to coal-fired generation. “Around 30% of the 380 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas demand growth has come from coal-to-gas switching since 2010, and virtually all of this happened in China," the International Energy Agency (IEA) finds.