Global energy crisis so severe it can cause social unrest, says Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman

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The current global energy crisis is so severe that it can give rise to social unrest, Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of New York-based alternative investment management company Blackstone, said on October 26.

A Bloomberg report quoted Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman as saying at a conference in Saudi Arabia: “We are going to end up with a real shortage of energy. And when you have a shortage, it is just going to cost more, and it is probably going to cost a lot more. When that happens, you are going to get very unhappy people around the world, in the emerging markets in particular.”

Echoing his comments, Larry Fink, chairman of asset management firm BlackRock Inc said there is a high probability of oil prices reaching $100 per barrel soon, given the number of governments and investors against investing in fossil fuels.

Fink said: “Inflation: There are many structural reasons for that. Short-term policy related to environmentalism, in terms of restricting the supply of hydrocarbons, has created energy inflation and we are going to be living with that for some time.”

He added that we are not focusing on long-term solutions to shift to a greener world. The changes are not granular and it is unreal to expect to wake up to a greener world tomorrow, Fink said.

Increased oil, natural gas, and coal prices in the post-pandemic world coupled with supply disruptions have made several analysts predict a halt in Europe’s gas exports if the upward trend vis-à-vis prices continues through winter.