00:00Energy is now so expensive that consumption is being forced down, not by efficiency, but
00:05by cost.
00:06In an opinion piece, Parking Bank says that is exactly what Southeast Asia is now facing.
00:12Not just high oil prices, a double shock.
00:16On one side, supply disruption is reducing access to crude, refined fuel, jet fuel, and
00:22industrial feedstocks.
00:23On the other, demand is being crushed.
00:26Airlines are cutting flights, factories are scaling back, transport operators are reducing
00:31routes, and households are cutting back because prices are becoming too painful.
00:37That, Park argues, is what demand destruction really means.
00:41Not efficiency, not transition, but people and businesses being forced to consume less
00:46because they can no longer afford the alternative.
00:49And Southeast Asia is especially exposed.
00:52The region imported around 2.2 million barrels a day from the Gulf last year.
00:57So this is not just about petrol prices.
01:00Crude underpins transport, refining, and power generation.
01:04NAFTA is critical to petrochemicals.
01:06And when supply is disrupted, the effects spread quickly across the wider economy.
01:11Even where there is no outright shortage, rationing is already happening through price.
01:16In Thailand, the Prime Minister has urged people to work from home, carpool, and use public
01:21transport.
01:22Across Asia, airlines have adjusted schedules, carried extra fuel, and added refueling stops
01:28as jet fuel tightens.
01:30So rationing is already here whether governments call it that or not.
01:34Replacing Gulf supply is also not simple.
01:36There have been temporary workarounds.
01:39But Par's point is that substitution is not the same as resilience.
01:44He points to reports that PetroChina had to move a rare crude shipment from storage in
01:48Dalian to help plug shortfalls at its Singapore refinery.
01:53Par also cautions against reading relative resilience as safety.
01:57Yes, some analysts say Malaysia and China are better buffered than others.
02:01But being less exposed is not the same as being protected.
02:06Malaysia still sits inside a regional system under strain through weaker tourism, costlier
02:11logistics, tighter petrochemical margins, and slower manufacturing across ASEAN.
02:16Which is why Par says this is no longer just a commodity problem.
02:20It is becoming a development problem.
02:22Because the shock spills into industrial output, aviation, tourism, shipping, food prices, and
02:28fiscal stability.
02:29And even if supply routes reopen, normality will not return overnight.
02:34There will still be damaged infrastructure, disrupted contracts, lost inventories, and altered
02:40shipping patterns.
02:41So the real warning is this.
02:44Southeast Asia may not just be facing a passing spike.
02:48It may be entering an era of deeper energy insecurity.
02:52Supply disruption and demand destruction are no longer separate problems.
02:56They are now the same crisis seen from two sides.
03:01For the full piece, read parking banks column, Southeast Asia faces contrasting energy challenges
03:06as crisis deepens on FMT.
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