Meeting global energy needs requires a colossal amount of capital – and the price tag keeps growing every year. In 2014, it cost over US$1.6 trillion to supply the world's consumers with energy, a figure that has doubled since 2000, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a report last year.

Unfortunately, gaining access to capital has become a difficult task for the energy industry in the present financial and economic climate. Banking regulation in the wake of the 2008 financial