Several energy companies have filed for bankruptcy this year as there was sharp drops in coal usage (for electricity) and oil usage (for gas/diesel for transport) around the globe as the pandemic gobbled up economies.
In April of this year, overall U.S. energy consumption dropped 14% compared to 2019.
New drilling activity declined in June for the seventh consecutive month, down to 11 million barrels daily. Oil-carrying ships have been parked in the Pacific Ocean due to low demand and oversupply.
Coal consumption fell 27% in April compared to 2019.
A total of 19 energy companies have filed for bankruptcy this year. These 19 new filings reflect a debt of $13.1 billion. That’s just from these 19 new cases.
Haynes and Boone reported that there have been 13 bankruptcies by oilfield services companies in 2020. These filings showed a total debt of $11.6 billion.
In contrast, according to International Energy Association (IEA), in the first quarter of 2020, the global use of renewable energy was 1.5% higher than in Q1 of 2019.
That increase reflected a rise of around 3% in renewable electricity generation. This followed the completion of more than 100 GW of solar PV and 60 GW of wind power projects in 2019.
The IEA estimates that, for 2020, renewable energy demand will increase 1% from 2019 levels, in stark contrast to all other energy sources.
Demand for renewables is on the rise, lockdown or not, while fossil fuels are in decline, lockdown or not.
Reference- IEA website and Report, Haynes and Boone Report, Oilprice website, Clean Technica