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Global Hydrogen Review 2026 Executive summary
The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global production and trade of hydrogen-based products The Middle East is a major producer of hydrogen-based products, and the conflict has strongly impacted their production. The Middle East is home to around one-sixth of global hydrogen production, the majority dedicated to the production of chemicals, fertilisers and refined oil products. The region accounts for more than 10% of global refining capacity, ammonia and urea production, and close to 17% of methanol production. Several refineries and petrochemical plants have halted operations due to supply disruptions and the impossibility of exporting…
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Sheltering From Oil Shocks Introduction and context
The conflict in the Middle East has created the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. The volume of fuel supply offline now is higher than the supply loss during the oil shock of 1973 that led to the IEA’s creation and any disruption since then. Beyond the direct damage to energy infrastructure in the region, the crisis has led to a near halt in tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz. Crude and oil product flows through the Strait have fallen from around 20 million barrels per day (mb/d) before the conflict to…
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Energy and AI AI and energy security
The nexus between energy and AI has implications for energy security. There are at least two broad dimensions to this relationship. The first arises from the impact of AI on energy security. AI can be – and indeed already is being – applied to address specific challenges relating to energy security concerns. At the same time, greater digitalisation and connectivity in the energy sector – which enable the use of AI – can create new energy security challenges. The second dimension arises from the need to mitigate energy sector-related supply chain risks, which have implications for the scaling up of data centres to meet…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case 6. CNOOC investment in Guyana: Whiptail Oil Field
…The Act requires oil companies, including CNOOC, to use local labour and suppliers in 40 specific categories, such as catering, transportation and manufacturing. In 2024, around 70% of the workforce on the Stabroek oil field project was local. Financing model and China’s role Whiptails’ total development cost is estimated at USD 12.7 billion, of which CNOOC is responsible for roughly USD 3.18 billion in proportion to its 25% stake. This covers both capital expenditure and operating costs consistent with the production sharing contract. CNOOC’s cumulative investment across all six Stabroek projects has now reached around USD…
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Universal Access to Clean Cooking in Africa Implications and policy considerations
A new recipe for success? Progress on clean cooking requires efforts from a wide range of stakeholders. These include efforts to enhance countries’ policy frameworks, address consumer affordability and other barriers to adoption, cultivate a skilled workforce and mobilise additional financing to the sector – themes discussed in this chapter.Access to low-cost debt will be key for companies to grow their customer base quickly. In the ACCESS, the share of debt financing in the sector increases from 35% today to over 50%. This depends on more financiers being able to assess and appropriately price risk clean cooking companies and…
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Sustainable Transport Policy for Armenia: A Roadmap Sustainable transport in Armenia
…from a Soviet-era, centrally planned economy to a partially market-oriented one, with most enterprises now privately owned. Foreign capital investment began in the early 2000s and has been an important contributor to economic growth. In 2024, gross domestic product (GDP) stood at USD 25.8 billion.Armenia became a member of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership in 2009 and has been an observer to the EU Energy Community since 2011. Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in January 2015 alongside Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation (hereafter “Russia”) (Kyrgyzstan followed in August), and in March 2021…
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Gas Market Lessons from the 2022-2023 Energy Crisis Anatomy of a natural gas crisis
Sudden and drastic reduction in Russian pipeline gas deliveries to Europe In the run-up to the gas supply shock, Russian natural gas (pipeline and LNG combined) accounted for a growing share of European gas supply. Prior to 2010, Russian supply made up a relatively steady 30% of the European Union’s gas supply. However, the combination of plateauing demand and rapid decline in EU domestic production, which started in the early 2010s (linked to the decision to phase out the historical Groningen gas field in the Netherlands), led to growing dependency on gas imports across the European Union. The…
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Global Methane Tracker 2026 Strategies to speed action
Making a business case for methane abatement Tackling methane emissions from fossil-fuel operations is one of the quickest and cheapest ways to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the methane abatement measures available today in the oil and gas sector would be cost-effective at a carbon price of about USD 20 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2‑eq). Methane abatement has not caught on as widely as it could, for several reasons. Companies may underestimate of the scale of the problem or be unaware of the available solutions. Capital is often steered toward higher-profile projects, while corporate…
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Gas Market Lessons from the 2022-2023 Energy Crisis Conclusion and lessons learned
Market environment is structurally and geopolitically more fragile One of the primary and most fundamental consequences of the energy crisis is the shift into a structurally more fragile natural gas market environment, compounded by geopolitical uncertainty. The drastic reduction in Russian pipeline flows to Europe also represented a loss of traded gas volumes in the global market. Concurrently, this drove an equally significant reduction in the availability of swing production capacity that had previously provided a degree of price-responsive supply modulation to both the European and global markets. In turn, this led to an increased reliance on LNG trade…
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Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit Energy Efficiency Policy Toolkit: Case studies
The following case studies demonstrate how different countries have successfully implemented energy efficiency policies across various sectors. These real-world examples are designed to support policymakers by offering practical insights into what works, under which conditions, and why.Each case study highlights specific policy instruments—such as regulations, information campaigns, or financial incentives—and shows how they have been applied in different contexts. They provide evidence on the outcomes achieved, lessons learned, and the challenges encountered during implementation. Readers are encouraged to explore the case studies by sector, policy type, or geographic region using the filters provided. Case studies bridge…
