Scott DiSavino and Jessica Jaganathan by Chen Aizhu

(Reuters). China’s energy crisis grew deeper on Friday. Coal prices hit a record high due to cold weather, and gas prices soared. Major energy companies are now looking for long-term contracts with U.S. supplier sources said to Reuters.

As a result of rising gas prices and shortages of coal, energy security is now at the forefront of governments in Asia and Europe. This has caused power outages that have affected large brands like Apple (NASDAQ:), just as coronavirus restrictions are lifted from the global economy.

European Union leaders plan to authorize emergency measures from member countries, such as price caps or subsidies, next week in an effort to safeguard consumers against rising prices.

China has been the largest exporter in the world and major companies, such as Sinopec Corp (NYSE:) Corp, and China National Offshore Oil Company, (NYSE:) Corp, have begun talks to establish long-term deals with U.S. importers of liquefied (LNG), according to sources.

Deals worth many billions could be reached. These deals would see a rise in LNG imports from China to America at a time of tension between them. The height of the Sino-U.S. tariff war, 2019 saw gas trade temporarily stop.

A Beijing-based trader stated that companies, as state-owned enterprises are under great pressure to maintain security of supply. The recent price trend had profoundly changed the perception of long-term supplies.

China and many other countries are now using coal as a short-term solution to global warming. Beijing also took a number of steps to limit price increases, such as increasing domestic coal production and cutting supplies to energy-hungry sectors.

Early Friday’s record-breaking January Zhengzhou thermal co coal futures contract CZCc1 reached 1,669.40 Yuan ($259.42 per tonne), having increased more than 2000% in the past year.

China assured its consumers that it will provide energy for winter heating.

OIL KEEPS CLIMBING

President Vladimir Putin told Europe this week that Russia, the region’s largest gas supplier, could provide more gas if asked but some European politicians accuse Moscow of using the fuel crisis for leverage, a charge Russia denies.

On Friday, crude oil prices rose to close to $85/barrel for the benchmark price. This is because of the fact that some customers are tempted to move to refined products due to the worldwide gas and coal shortage.

The climate minister of Poland said Friday that consumers will receive an extra 1.5 billion zlotys ($380m) in subsidy to help ease rising prices.

Germany has confirmed that it will reduce a green energy surcharge to consumers in order to lower utility bills.

ABN Amro, a Dutch bank, has warned that European wholesale natural gas prices will not return to their “normal” level before 2023.

Norway, Europe’s second-largest gas supplier, is among those who have benefited from the crisis. Official data revealed that Norway reported an unprecedented trade surplus, up 28%, to 53.7 Billion Norwegian Crowns ($6.37 billion), last month due to record sales of gas.