At this moment, the world’s biggest shifts all touch on energy. The geopolitics of energy has entered a period of upheaval. The so-called “Energy Dominance” policy of Donald Trump’s second U.S. administration, centered on oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), is a key pillar supporting Washington’s strategy to preserve its global leadership. China, meanwhile, is working to reduce its reliance on the oil order the U.S. has led, while pursuing an electrification strategy built around solar power, wind power, electric vehicles and batteries.
A war between the United States and Iran, which began this February, led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, an unprecedented event for a key energy artery. That in turn brought on a Middle East oil shock that many had assumed would never happen again. The energy shock originating in Hormuz has emerged as a megaton-scale variable that could either accelerate or, conversely, delay the energy transition driven by climate change. The world is moving quickly from the Petro era to the Electro era, but the Strait of Hormuz crisis has also served as a reminder that considerable time still remains before oil steps back from the center of the energy order. The equations surrounding energy prices, industrial competitiveness and national security are, if anything, growing more complex. Added to this are artificial intelligence (AI), which demands enormous amounts of electricity and water, and climate change, which is shaking the stability of energy supply. Climate change is bringing on compound disasters led by extreme heat, raising the difficulty of solving energy problems.
This is why Petro-Electro seeks to view a wide range of phenomena — the economy and industry, international affairs and climate change — through the lens of energy. The series does not claim that energy is the cause of everything. Just as climate change acts as a threat multiplier that deepens economic and social problems, the purpose of this series is to examine how the energy variables hidden within current issues work as forces that move the world. Petro-Electro aims to tell energy stories that every reader can find interesting. From more than 60 articles, we have selected recommended pieces that readers can explore according to their interests. We hope you will follow along.
Note: From oil (Petro) to electricity (Electro). Energy is a key keyword for understanding the economy and industry, international affairs and the response to climate change. By subscribing to the reporter or to the [Cho Yang-jun’s Petro-Electro] series, you can find investment insights understood through the lens of energy.
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