The Global Tendencies in the Fuel Sector: Challenges for Ukraine

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the main competition-generating factors in the development of the world fuel sector: demand, supply, stocks and prices. Certain global trends show the multi-directional development of both developed and developing countries. There are the following differences: first, the OECD countries can target their own fuel-energy balances for the gradual replacement of hydrocarbons by renewable energy sources, while the non-OECD countries remain supporters of cheap and traditional energy resources; second, the OECD countries do not reduce the rate of production of conventional energy resources, and the non-OECD countries meet their growing needs, among other ways, at the expense of the aforementioned countries; third, there is a significant disproportion in the energy balance in the OECD countries, which is covered by imported hydrocarbons, whereas in the non-OECD countries there is a greater kinship between sources of energy security. At the same time, the tendency towards globalization of the market for traditional hydrocarbons is unique to the oil market, while only gaining momentum in the natural gas market, and in the coal market the scale of world trade is negligible.

Keywords

• fuel sector
• coal
• natural gas
• oil
• market analysis
• consumption
• mining
• stocks