What's causing the problem?
While each of these countries faces a unique set of circumstances, all have been hit by the twin effects of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine — two unforeseeable events that have turned on their heads previously reasonable assumptions about supply lines and regional security and in the process plunged the world of economic planning into chaos.
At root, experts say, the problem lies in a growing mismatch between supply and demand.
Over the past couple of years, the pandemic kept demand for energy unusually low, with global electricity consumption dropping by more than 3% in the first quarter of 2020 as lockdowns and other restrictions kept workers at home, cars off the road, and ships stuck in ports.
But now, as nations begin to put the pandemic behind them, demand for fuel is spiking — and the sudden competition is pushing the prices of coal, oil and gas to record highs.
Turbo-charging this trend is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the world's third largest oil producer and second largest crude oil exporter. With the United States and many of its allies sanctioning Russian oil and gas, many countries have been left scrambling to find alternative sources — heating up the competition for limited supplies even further.
"Energy demand has rebounded quite quickly from the coronavirus and more quickly than supply," said Samantha Gross, director of the Brookings Institute's Energy Security and Climate Initiative.
"So we saw high prices even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine (but then there was) really a shock to energy supply. Various actions taken in response to that are really a challenge for energy supply globally."
Why Asia?
While the price of energy imports has risen dramatically across the world, with international coal prices five times higher than a year ago and natural gas prices up to 10 times higher than last year, experts say there are reasons some Asian economies — particularly import-reliant, developing ones — have been hit hardest.
"If you're a country, especially an emerging economy like a Sri Lanka that has to buy those commodities, has to buy oil, has to buy natural gas, this is a real struggle," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.
"You're paying a lot more for the things you need but the things you sell haven't gone up in price. So you're shelling out a lot more money to try to buy the same things to keep your economy running."
Poorer countries that are still developing or newly industrialized are simply less able to compete with more deep pocketed rivals — and the more they need to import, the bigger their problem will be, said Antoine Halff, adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.
"So Pakistan certainly fits there. Sri Lanka I think fits there as well," he said. "They're taking the price hit but they're also taking the supply hit. They have to pay more for their energy supplies and in some countries like Pakistan, they actually have a hard time sourcing energy."
Canaries in the coal mine
This dynamic is behind the increasingly chaotic scenes playing out in those countries.
As recently as a week ago, Sri Lanka's power and energy minister said it was a matter of days before the country ran out of fuel. That bleak warning came as lines at fuel stations in Colombo extended up to 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) and in many towns clashes between police and the public broke out.
It is almost as if everyday life itself is shutting down. On Monday, public sector offices, government schools and government-approved private schools were closed for at least two weeks. Public sector workers have been told to take Fridays off for the next three months — with the suggestion they use the time to grow their own food.
Pakistan too has had to reduce its working week — back down to five days from six — though that may only make the situation worse. Its six-day week, only recently introduced, was supposed to improve productivity and boost the economy.
Instead, daily hours-long power outages have plagued the country of 220 million for at least a month and malls and restaurants in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi have been told to close early to save fuel.
The country's energy supply is almost 5,000 megawatts below demand — a shortfall that could power between 2 million and 5 million homes on some estimates.
As Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb put it on June 7: "We are facing a severe crisis."
