Energy Risk Asia Awards 2026: The winners

- By Stella Farrington
- 19 Oct 2026

For firms in Asia with exposure to energy markets, 2026 has been an exceptionally challenging year. The US-Iran conflict, and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, threw oil and gas trade flows into disarray from late February onwards.

With around 90% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Qatar and United Arab Emirates traditionally going to Asia via the Strait of Hormuz, the blockade left Asian buyers scrambling to find alternatives while spot prices surged.

According to the International Energy Agency, the de facto closure has kept an estimated 40 million tonnes of LNG out of Asia so far this year, and flows have dropped by about 1.5 million tonnes globally per week.

Prices have been extremely volatile as a result. The Japan Korea Marker (JKM) rose from around $10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in January to a mid-March spike of around $25/mmBtu before dropping and then climbing again to a mid-September peak of almost $30/mmBtu – its highest valuation since December 2022.

Meanwhile, in the crude oil markets, Asia faced early shortages at the start of the conflict, but volumes picked up as Gulf countries found alternative routes – either pipelines or ship-to-ship transfers that bypassed the physical strait. By late September, daily crude flows had returned to pre-war averages of between 13.5 million and 16.5 million barrels per day.

After starting the year at $64 a barrel (/bbl) the Dubai-Oman benchmark crude price rose 34% to $86/bbl at the start of March and hit $105/bbl in April. By July it had sunk back to $82/bbl, only to rocket up again and hit $121/bbl in September. Regional arbitrages have also been extremely choppy. While Dubai-Oman was lower than both Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures in April, by the start of October it was higher than both, sitting at $112.65/bbl, while Brent was $101.43/bbl and WTI $91.11/bbl.

While initially insulated by LNG storage levels, electricity prices in most Asian countries began rising on the back of higher gas and oil prices from the middle of the year onwards, either as a result of gas being used as an input fuel or contracts being index-linked to crude oil prices.

At the same time, electricity demand rose on the back of some extreme summer heat in countries such as South Korea, India and China where air-conditioning use soared. Demand increases also came from growing data centres and industrial expansion across the region.

Wholesale electricity spot prices on the Japan Electric Power Exchange, which had averaged 11.27 yen per kilowatt/hour (JPY/kWh) in January 2026, crept up to an average of 12.12 JPY/kWh in March before surging to 19.12 JPY/kWh in September. At the time of writing, they are over 21.66 JPY/kWh.

Amid these conditions, it has been vital for firms to understand their exposures and make optimal decisions on how best to mitigate the worst of these risks. This year’s Energy Risk Asia awards celebrate the firms that have furthered best practices in risk management, either through exceptional hedging and structuring expertise or by providing advanced technological support.