As another turbulent year for the energy markets, 2024 witnessed a further escalation in geopolitical tensions and conflicts, leading to a mixed bag of achievements, missed opportunities, and rough energy seas not only for the goal of tripling clean sources of supply but also for dominant fossil fuels, which showed their resilience in the face of multiple legal challenges aiming to shut oil, gas, and liquified natural gas (LNG) down. Each side got to experience the taste of victories and defeats over the year, but the lion’s share of players in both offshore energy clubs kept moving forward despite setbacks that got in their way.
During 2024, energy security still dominated the power sector’s discourse in many regions across the globe, managing to take the front-row seat in political duels and standoffs in nearly all elections that were held over the past 12 months. While the results of these elections brought drastic shifts in some regions, with the far-right political spectrum managing to make significant inroads, the left secured wins too, and the overall status quo was also maintained in many places, and the left secured wins too.
Oil, gas, and LNG persevered by powering through the obstacles placed in their path, reigniting the flame of market consolidation across all areas of business. Given the complexities evident within the global political state of affairs, energy security has become somewhat controversial, representing a double-edged sword, depending on the intentions of those wielding it.
On one hand, this topic is pushing energy diversification and driving the ramp-up in greener sources of supply, spearheading the shift away from fossil fuels. On the other hand, it is also propelling such projects forward, especially those in the oil, gas, and LNG arenas, by stripping bare the need for more sources of supply to meet the rising energy needs, exacerbated by population growth.