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91. Power Imbalance: Iran’s Gains, Saudi’s Challenges

Author:
Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Al Jazeera Center for Studies
Abstract:
There is no one, sweeping reason for declining oil prices, but Iran and Russia have publicly and explicitly placed the blame on Saudi’s shoulders. The reality is, however, is that the drop in oil prices is just one more point of contention between Iran and Saudi in a line of regional issues that have brought to light the reality of an Iran-Saudi showdown. Iran’s growing regional expansion, the conflict over a Syrian resolution, and the Houthis’ increasing control over Yemen are all more convincing factors which help explain why Saudi is adamantly refusing to reduce its oil production. This position paper analyses Saudi’s challenges as it attempts to counter Iran’s gains in the Arab region, particularly in light of a possible nuclear deal between Iran and the US.
Topic:
International Relations, Oil, Regional Cooperation, and Economy
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Iran, Middle East, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Syria

92. Fueling a New Order? The New Geopolitical and Security Consequences of Energy

Author:
Bruce Jones, David Steven, and Emily O'Brien
Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
Abstract:
On December 16, 2013, Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's powerful former intelligence chief, gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal. He was speaking out after a turbulent four months in Middle East and Persian Gulf diplomacy, diplomacy that culminated in an interim nuclear deal between Iran and the major powers. Prince Turki, long a close friend to the United States, used the interview to blast American policy. He was critical of U.S. strategy in the region as a whole, but particularly vehement about leaving Saudi Arabia out of the loop as the United States engaged in secret bilateral diplomacy with Iran. "How can you build trust when you keep secrets from what are supposed to be your closest allies?" he fumed.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, Economics, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Oil
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Asia

93. Produced Water: Asset or Waste?

Author:
Blythe Lyons
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
US national security is enhanced by energy security. The United States is enjoying a unique opportunity to bolster its energy security by increasing domestic production of oil and gas resources. The recent explosion in domestic unconventional production will allow an expanded bandwidth of US responses to the turmoil in the Middle East and Europe. If further exploited, the move toward energy self-sufficiency also gives the United States a cushion to reassess its global strategic policies. Expanding the domestic resource base further provides the United States with an industrial advantage in global commerce.
Topic:
Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, National Security, and Oil
Political Geography:
United States, Europe, and Middle East

94. Reforming National Oil Companies: Nine Recommendations

Author:
Patrick Heller, Paasha Mahdavi, and Johannes Schreuder
Publication Date:
07-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Some national oil companies (NOCs) have contributed heavily to successful efforts to harness benefits from the oil sector and drive broader national development. In other cases, however, NOCs have become inefficient managers of national resources, obstacles to private investment, drains on public coffers, or sources of patronage and corruption. As such, NOC reform—incremental in some cases, fundamental in others—lies at or near the top of the policy agendas of many oil-rich countries. Building on existing literature, we surveyed 12 NOCs from diverse geographical and operational contexts to distill practical steps that policy-makers can take to make their countries' NOCs more effective and more accountable—to governments and to citizens. Our recommendations can be seen in both the executive summary and the full report.
Topic:
Oil, Transparency, Data, and State-Owned Enterprises
Political Geography:
Europe, Malaysia, Middle East, Kazakhstan, Norway, Asia, Kuwait, Brazil, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Latin America, Mexico, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Cameroon, and Sub-Saharan Africa

95. EITI: A Parliamentary Tool for Extractive Sector Governance in Liberia and Yemen

Author:
Laury Haytayan, Luke Smitham, and Femke Brouwer
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Liberia in West Africa and Yemen in the Middle East hold vast reserves of oil and other natural resources. As participants of the Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), both states have voluntarily disclosed payments received from extractive companies in a standardized reporting process overseen by its own multi-stakeholder group (MSG). But unlike the majority of EITI participating countries, Liberia and Yemen have enlisted a key group of actors-parliamentarians-in their efforts to better govern resources and resource revenues. Lending credibility and capacity to the MSG, these political leaders have used their parliamentary mandate to improve policy and initiate reforms in the extractive sector, as well as facilitate EITI reporting and help oversee EITI compliance.
Topic:
Oil, Natural Resources, Governance, Transparency, and Extractive Industries
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, Yemen, and Liberia

96. US and Iranian Strategic Competition: Sanctions, Energy, Arms Control, and Regime Change

Author:
Anthony H. Cordesman, Bryan Gold, and Chloe Coughlin-Schulte
Publication Date:
07-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Strategic Research and Analysis (CESRAN)
Abstract:
This report analyzes four key aspects of US and Iranian strategic competition - sanctions, energy, arms control, and regime change. Its primary focus is on the ways in which the sanctions applied to Iran have changed US and Iranian competition since the fall of 2011. This escalation has been spurred by the creation of a series of far stronger US unilateral sanctions and the EU's imposition of equally strong sanctions – both of which affect Iran's ability to export, its financial system, and its overall economy.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Islam, Nuclear Weapons, Oil, Regime Change, and Sanctions
Political Geography:
Iran and Middle East

97. Oil, Conflict, and U.S. National Interests

Author:
Jeff D. Colgan
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Although the threat of “resource wars” over possession of oil reserves is often exaggerated, the sum total of the political effects generated by the oil industry makes oil a leading cause of war. Between one-quarter and one-half of interstate wars since 1973 have been connected to one or more oil-related causal mechanisms. No other commodity has had such an impact on international security.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, International Trade and Finance, Oil, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Middle East, and Arabia

98. Iraq's Tangled Foreign Interests and Relations

Author:
Paul Salem
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
A decade after Saddam Hussein's fall, Iraq still lacks a centralized foreign policy that advances its national interests. Internal divisions, such as those between the Shia-dominated regime in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil, have given rise to alternative power centers with their own policy priorities. Iraqi foreign policy will remain disjointed and incoherent until Baghdad resolves the issues polarizing the country.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Ethnic Conflict, Islam, Oil, and Governance
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Arabia

99. The domestic challenges in the Saudi energy market and their regional and geopolitical implications

Author:
Eckart Woertz
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
Saudi Arabia's domestic energy consumption is skyrocketing. The growth of electricity demand is particularly strong and shows a high degree of seasonality due to the need for air conditioning in the hot summer months. Demand drivers are population growth, industrial development and a subsidy regime that encourages wasteful consumption. Saudi Arabia now faces a natural gas shortage and is seeking alternative energy sources like nuclear power and renewables in order to reduce the common practice of using fuel oil, crude oil and diesel in power stations. If unchecked, domestic energy demand will threaten oil export capacity and could compromise Saudi Arabia's role as swing producer in global oil markets. However, a reform of the subsidy regime is politically sensitive, because citizens regard subsidies as an entitlement. The government is reluctant to touch subsidies in order to avoid the kind of political unrest that has occurred elsewhere in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, Energy Policy, and Oil
Political Geography:
Middle East and Arabia

100. New markets and partners for Saudi oil exports

Author:
Giacomo Luciani
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
Flows of crude oil sales are determined by refining demand. In recent years Saudi Arabia has invested massively in captive refining capacity at home and abroad and will be able to refine two-thirds or more of its oil in controlled refineries by the end of the current decade. Because refineries in Europe are likely to be put on sale as distressed assets, Saudi Aramco would have no difficulty in further expanding its controlled capacity. A continuation of this trend may even lead to the Kingdom not exporting crude oil to third parties at all. This is in line with the country's ambition to diversify its economy and its limited interest in further expanding oil production for the sake of selling oil as crude.
Topic:
Diplomacy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Oil
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, and Saudi Arabia