Explainer: Global energy shortage or a coincidence of regional crises?

British gasoline stations running dry, surging power costs in the European Union ahead of winter, forced restrictions on energy use in China and rising oil, natural gas and coal prices.

You could be forgiven for thinking the world had suddenly been hit by an energy shortage, but you would be mostly wrong.

While the squeezes slamming consumers and businesses is acute, the disruptions have less in common than you may think.

Uniting them is...