IEA: Energy prices could surge again

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said that energy prices could surge again this winter. However, this would require a combination of two factors: strong demand for energy from China and a cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere. In that case, Birol said, national governments would have to continue intervening in the energy market, as they have this year.

The IEA’s warning follows a recent statement by Germany’s energy regulator that the energy crisis is not yet over, despite European gas storage facilities being well stocked.

"As far as storage levels are concerned, we are in a different position now than we were last year... But the biggest factor remains the weather," Klaus Mueller, president of Germany’s network regulator, told Reuters in early June. "The energy crisis is not yet over," he added.

Representatives of companies and organisations, both public and private, regularly report that commodity markets remain tight—we have written about it, for example, here and here. This is not limited to the natural gas market. The situation on the oil market is also very tight. Alongside weather forecasts, attention is therefore turning to China and its demand for energy.