Insightful WSJ piece by
@DanielYergin on how it could take years before global energy flow returns back to “normal”, and yet global energy diversification is well underway:
“Overall, the Western Hemisphere now produces more oil than the Middle East did before the crisis. Canada is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer. Brazil produces four times as much oil as Venezuela; and in Guyana, where production began only seven years ago, output almost equals Venezuela’s. In Argentina’s Vaca Muerta region, shale oil production has grown sixfold since 2020. The current disruption will propel more oil and gas investment in the Western Hemisphere and Africa.
Diversification goes beyond oil and gas. Responding to the “tanker war” during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, Saudi Arabia built variety in the form of a pipeline system that now moves 7 million barrels of oil a day west to the Red Sea. Abu Dhabi built a pipeline looping around the Strait of Hormuz and plans to double capacity by 2027. France, which once depended on oil for electric generation, now relies mainly on nuclear. Japan led the development of the LNG industry to push oil out of its electric generation. The growing scale of wind and solar adds further diversification for electric generation.”
wsj.com/opinion/energy-marke…