China has seen a surge in Covid cases
Letter from Beijing: Covid relapse threatens demand
China’s rebounding appetite for energy is being undermined by fresh lockdowns and quarantine measures
China’s worst Covid outbreak in two years is pushing its zero-tolerance policy to the limit, with implications for fuel and energy demand if Beijing cannot bring the latest surge under control quickly. The Omicron outbreak—China’s most serious since the initial crisis first erupted in Wuhan in early 2020—has spread to more than half of the country, with domestically transmitted, symptomatic cases detected in 20 of 31 provinces. The cumulative total of domestic cases so far this year has now exceeded 37,000, compared with 8,378 for all of 2021, with some 33,000 infections registered in March alone. The rising case numbers are a fraction of those for other major economies—the US reported 20,00
Also in this section
1 August 2025
A number of companies have filed arbitration claims against Gazprom over non-deliveries of contracted gas or other matters—and won. The next step is to collect the award; this is no easy task but it can be done thanks to an international legal framework under the New York Convention.
1 August 2025
Europe’s refining sector is desperately trying to adapt to a shifting global energy landscape and nowhere is this more apparent than in its largest economy
1 August 2025
The Middle East natural gas playbook is being rewritten. The fuel source offers the region a pathway to a cleaner, sustainable and affordable means of local power, to fasttrack economic development and as a lucrative opportunity to better monetise its energy resources.
31 July 2025
TotalEnergies is an outlier among other majors for remaining committed to low-carbon investments while continuing to replenish and expand its ample oil and gas portfolio, with an appetite for high risk/high return projects.
