Oil is still the most important energy source in the world, which for decades has conditioned not only the markets but also international politics: everyone can see that the countries holding the largest energy stores and the ability to exploit them play a heavy role in the international scene.
Hindering oil's "supremacy" as an energy source is natural gas, whose market is very dynamic and in constant transformation; the principal causes of this positive evolution are the rising demand in many countries, investments in infrastructure, the growing capability of liquefaction and the relatively low prices of LNG. The sale of coal is instead less important today from an economic point of view compared to other fossil fuels and the more developed economies no longer use it as much, both because of its costlier transportation and because they are heading toward a policy of decarbonization, which helps lower CO₂ emissions.

• BP, Statistical Review of World Energy 2022;
• EIA (US Energy Information Administration), International Energy Statistics [Last accessed 01 February 2023];
• ITC (International Trade Centre), Trade Map;
• UN (United Nations), Comtrade Database [Last accessed 02 February 2023];