[Episode #158] – Global Energy Crunch

Since early July, a global energy crunch has unfolded, driving up prices for all energy fuels around the world, and then causing some power plants and manufacturing facilities to shut down. In turn, that has exacerbated problems across global supply chains, causing major delays and price increases for everything from gasoline to hard goods.

If you have been wondering why your heating bill is up, or your last tank of gasoline was so expensive, or why your local retailer is telling you that you’ll have to wait months for that new washing machine, this episode will give you at least the beginning of some answers. These are remarkable times in the energy markets, unlike anything that’s happened since the last major commodity spike of 2008.

And we are very pleased to have an analyst and editor who has been following energy and commodities since well before that last spike as our guide in this episode: Will Kennedy, executive editor for energy and commodities at Bloomberg News. Will leads us through the many, many facets of this complex picture, and then we wrap up the conversation by asking how the world’s energy leaders will respond to it as the COP 26 climate conference gets underway. This developing supply shock may give us a good clue about how the world responds to the challenges of the energy transition in the coming years.

Guest:

Will Kennedy is executive editor for energy and commodities at Bloomberg News overseeing the coverage of global markets in oil, gas, power, metals and agriculture. He’s been at Bloomberg for 17 years, first in Singapore, where he started covering shipping markets and then in London, where he led reporting on the oil industry for several years. He’s been in his current role since the start of 2020.

On Twitter: @wenkennedy

On the Web: Will Kennedy’s author page at Bloomberg

Recording date: September 29, 2021

Air date: October 27, 2021

Geek rating: 5