Open markets to the rescue - the story of energy in 2011, and its lessons for the future

By Alex Forbes

Despite energy supply disruptions of unprecedented scale - and against a backdrop of ever-rising demand - energy markets coped surprisingly well in 2011 in "keeping the lights on". So said BP yesterday as it launched its 61st annual Review of World Energy Statistics. This was thanks largely to the proper functioning of open and competitive markets and the growing interdependence and interconnections that characterise the global energy system. Long-term trends continued to assert themselves, especially the shift of energy consumption from the industrialised to the emerging nations and, worryingly, our continuing failure to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control. Alex Forbes reports from London.

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