Resilience First Looks at Energy Supply, Post Ukraine

At its most recent event (Energy Markets – coping with volatility and the conflict in Ukraine), Resilience First invited experts to detail how the conflict was likely to impact the energy markets in the UK and beyond and what this meant for the business community.

The news of conflict within Ukraine serves as a stark reminder of the impact that geopolitical relations have on business. Any conflict has consequences and those emerging from Ukraine could be significant for energy cost and supply, not only in the UK, but across Europe. The immediate period is one of confusion and uncertainty and we are already seeing high energy prices going even higher. We now are moving into a period of extensive volatility for energy markets, the length of which is dependent upon how the conflict evolves. Unfortunately, this will be accompanied by a period of high energy costs to business.

Mike Rooney, CEO of Resilience First said:

“This is a really difficult time for businesses in the UK and the energy cost impacts from the conflict in Ukraine come on the back of a very challenging pandemic.  Resilience is the ability to be able to manage shocks and stresses and the current volatility of the energy markets will very much test our members. Resilience First will be working closely with our members on developing resilience policy that will help them to adapt and plan as volatility in energy markets and prices will become the new normal for the foreseeable future.”

Lord Toby Harris, Chair, National Preparedness Commission, said:

“Instability in energy markets is, of course, an issue for central government but, more than that, it is an issue for every community and every business. The National Preparedness Commission supports the view that improving the resilience of communities and business is key to increasing national resilience and I look forward to the government promoting this when it publishes its National Resilience Strategy later this year.”

Oksana Antonenko, Director, Control Risks, said:

“As the conflict evolves, the fighting may continue for months to come and the possibility of spillover to other countries always remains a risk. Businesses are focusing on crisis-response just now and managing supply chains and energy costs. As the geopolitical dynamics changes in the next year or two, business will need to plan ahead and consider how the conflict could increase tensions further between countries and how economies will react if it lasts longer.”

Nick Campbell, Director, Energy Intensive Clients, Inspired Energy plc, said:

“There is extreme volatility in energy markets just now and no indication that this will stabilise soon. Even in periods when prices are stable, business should consider long-term planning as shocks, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, are unpredictable. Working with a third-party intermediary can help to mitigate procurement risk.”

David Wright, Group Chief Engineer & Group Director of Safety, Health & Business Resilience, National Grid, said:

“The recently published British Energy Security Strategy aims to address longer-term energy supply issues by reducing the UK’s dependency on wholesale and international oil and gas markets. To be clear, there are many sources of energy that the UK can access; what the country is faced with today isn’t a security of supply issue but one of price and markets.”