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52. Gaining Ground in the Struggle Against Extractivism
- Author:
- Antulio Rosales and Claudia Rodríguez Gilly
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
- Abstract:
- From oil to mining, resource exploitation is the central battlefield for Venezuela’s land and environmental movements.
- Topic:
- Environment, Oil, Natural Resources, Social Movement, Mining, Land, and Extractive Industries
- Political Geography:
- South America and Venezuela
53. Petroleum Industry Diversification in the Middle East and Its Policy Implications for Korea in the Era of Energy Transition
- Author:
- Kwon Hyung Lee, Sung Hyun Son, Yun Hee Jang, Kwang Ho Ryou, and Dawoon Lee
- Publication Date:
- 04-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
- Abstract:
- The GCC oil exporters including Saudi Arabia and the UAE are under strong pressure to prepare for decreasing global oil demand in the era of energy transition and carbon neutrality. To overcome these challenges, they need to diversify their industrial structure and develop low carbon technologies such as green hydrogen and CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage). This research is aimed to examine various mid-to-long term plans, industrial policies, and business cooperation cases to promote diversification in the Middle Eastern petroleum industry, suggesting policy proposals for cooperation between Korea and the Middle East and business opportunities in the region.
- Topic:
- Oil, Business, Diversification, Industry, Carbon Emissions, and Energy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Asia, and South Korea
54. HOW GERMANY’S COALITION CHANGE CONTRIBUTED TO PUTIN’S STRATEGIC MISCALCULATION IN UKRAINE
- Author:
- Debra Leiter and Rebecca Best
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Political Violence @ A Glance
- Abstract:
- Vladimir Putin almost certainly failed to anticipate that Germany would be willing to sacrifice the benefits of cheaper Russian gas to punish Russian aggression in Ukraine. But Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz indefinitely paused certification of the completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline to “reassess” the situation. While the move didn’t stop Putin from invading Ukraine—by that point Putin already had too much skin in the game to risk the loss of face from backing down—it has substantially raised the costs for Russia. Why did Germany do this, and why didn’t Putin see it coming?
- Topic:
- NATO, Oil, War, Gas, and Strategic Interests
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Ukraine, and Germany
55. Saving Energy in a Hurry Reducing Dependence on Russian Hydrocarbons Requires Resolute Demand and Supply Sides Action
- Author:
- Cédric Philibert
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
- Abstract:
- Facing Russia’s aggression on Ukraine, European countries have enacted economic and financial sanctions against Russia. • However, heavily dependent on Russian gas, European countries fear possible countersanctions. • On the other hand, Russia is heavily dependent, first and foremost, on oil exports, but also, yet to a lesser extent, on gas exports to Europe. Oil and gas represent more than half its total export revenues. • European countries should distinguish two policy needs: reducing their dependence on Russian gas to mitigate the impacts of possible countersanctions; reducing the demand for Russian oil to increase the economic pressure on Russia. • Reducing demand for Russian oil can be much easier for European countries to endure and can be done immediately with an active involvement of the civil society, from companies to citizens. It would ease the cost impacts on European citizens and give them ways to express their solidarity with Ukraine.
- Topic:
- Security, Oil, Sanctions, European Union, and Gas
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Ukraine
56. Global oil theft: impact and policy responses
- Author:
- Etienne Romsom
- Publication Date:
- 02-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This paper, the first of two on global oil theft and fraud, discusses the prevalence, methods, and consequences of global oil theft, valued at US$133 billion per year and equivalent to 5–7 per cent of the global market for crude oil and petroleum fuels. However, the impact of oil theft is significantly larger than the value of theft itself. Government tax yields have been assessed for 30 developing countries associated with oil theft and found to be significantly lower than in the International Monetary Fund’s benchmark study. Oil theft, smuggling, and illicit trade in petroleum products are often seen as lesser forms of crime than human trafficking, the drugs trade, smuggling of weapons, kidnapping, and terrorism. However, oil theft as an act of opportunity tends to evolve into organized crime and, if left unchecked, oil theft may interlink with other organized crime activities and groups. Actions against oil theft should target the transnational crime syndicates that continue to find ways to replicate their thefts by adapting their theft strategies and business models. However, there is a lack of basic data, including how much oil is stolen, how the stolen oil is transported, and how illicit oil transactions are conducted. The mixing of legal commercial operations with illegal oil theft activities and fraud obscures many oil theft crimes.
- Topic:
- Corruption, Oil, International Crime, and Tax Evasion
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
57. Countering global oil theft: responses and solutions
- Author:
- Etienne Romsom
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- United Nations University
- Abstract:
- This second of two papers on global oil theft discusses ways to reduce oil theft, misappropriation, and fraud. At US$133 billion per year, oil is the largest stolen natural resource globally, while fuel is the most smuggled natural resource. Oil theft equates to 5–7 per cent of the global market for crude oil and petroleum fuels. It is so engrained in the energy supply chain that thefts are priced in by traders and tolerated by many shipping companies as petty theft. Oil theft and related insecurity have substantial negative economic effects on developing countries, whether they produce oil or not. In 2012, non-oil-producing Benin saw a 28 per cent drop in taxable income after a spate of oil tanker hijacking incidents in the Gulf of Guinea in 2011. In Nigeria, the oil capacity shut-in and amount of oil deferred is more than twice the amount estimated as stolen, with a US$20 billion annual loss in petroleum profit tax—63 per cent of total government tax revenue in 2019. Organized oil crime syndicates are often transnational and conduct theft and fraud professionally, exploiting gaps in jurisdiction and adapting their practices when law enforcement becomes more effective. They evolve from ship piracy to stealing tanker cargoes to kidnapping tanker crews; from physical ransom of assets to digital hijacking via ransomware. The proceeds of oil theft often finance other organized crime, and it triggers violence against the community and in crime-on-crime activities. Twelve commonalities in oil theft and fraud have been identified that can direct international solutions, in three target areas: stolen oil volumes, stolen oil transport, and stolen oil money. Prosecution for acts of bribery offers opportunities for action: transport of or payment for illegal oil could constitute a bribe under the US Foreign Corrupt Practice Act if government officials were involved in the transaction or shipment. Bribe charges could be raised for paid ‘services’ that facilitate oil theft (through action or non-action).
- Topic:
- Corruption, Oil, Piracy, Cybersecurity, Fossil Fuels, Tax Evasion, and Theft
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
58. Cutting Putin’s energy rent: ‘smart sanctioning’ Russian oil and gas
- Author:
- Georg Zachmann, Guntram Wolff, Agata Łoskot-Strachota, Simone Tagliapietra, Axel Ockenfels, Ricardo Hausmann, and Ulrich Schetter
- Publication Date:
- 04-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- In the wake of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, major sanctions have been imposed by Western countries, most notably with the aim of limiting Russia’s access to hard international currency. However, Russia remains the world’s first exporter of oil and gas, and at current energy prices this provides large hard currency revenues. As the war continues, European governments are under increased pressure to scale-up their energy sanctions, following measures taken by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Given the inelasticity of Russia’s oil and gas supply, the most efficient way for Europe to sanction Russian energy would not be an embargo, but the introduction of an import tariff that can be used flexibly to control the degree of economic pressure on Russia.
- Topic:
- Oil, Sanctions, Gas, Vladimir Putin, and Energy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Eurasia, and Ukraine
59. How to make the EU Energy Platform an effective emergency tool
- Author:
- Walter Boltz, Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, and Thierry Deschuyteneer
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Bruegel
- Abstract:
- Uncertainty about the supply of Russian natural gas is causing extremely high and volatile European gas and electricity prices. European Union countries may struggle to import sufficient volumes of natural gas at reasonable prices. During the summer, the imperatives are to fill storage sites sufficiently in a coordinated manner and to organise sufficient import volumes to replace a substantial share of gas that might no longer come from Russia. Coordination is essential to ensure that disruptions during difficult winter months do not lead to a break-up of the EU internal gas market with potentially serious political repercussions. One part of the EU response is establishment of an EU Energy Platform for the purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen. This aims to pool demand to leverage the bloc’s economic clout, international outreach to reliable partners and efficient use of existing infrastructure. EU leaders have backed the plan but it has not yet been translated into a feasible scheme. The platform should be developed into an effective emergency tool to safeguard gas supply in case Russian flows stop. We detail two complementary proposals to achieve this. First, there should be EU-wide auctioning of remuneration for filling storage sites in specific regions. Companies would remain responsible for all stages of the value chain, benefitting from remuneration and in return offering the market operator some control over how this gas is released during winter months. Second, EU demand for additional LNG quantities, and the sourcing of this on international markets, should be coordinated through a platform, creating a transparent market for these volumes. These mechanisms would resolve the prevention paradox and prevent free-riding. If EU countries buy gas jointly, they will find it much easier to let markets allocate scarce volumes across borders in case of a complete stop to Russian supplies. . This would reduce the risk of energy market fragmentation, as well as the subsequent energy security, economic and political impacts of a shock that would hit member states very differently.
- Topic:
- Oil, European Union, Gas, and Energy
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, and Ukraine
60. The impact of stakeholder management on the oil and gas industry in Africa: A case study of oil companies and African host communities
- Author:
- Nnaemeka Madumere
- Publication Date:
- 01-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- African Journal on Conflict Resolution
- Institution:
- The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
- Abstract:
- The oil and gas industry is regarded as one of the most dynamic, complex and controversial industrial sectors and involves activities that generate a whole range of diverse viewpoints. This has resulted because the industry has several stakeholders who can influence and, at the same time, be impacted upon by activities associated with the value chain of oil and gas oriented business. However, one extremely important stakeholder is the community. Many researchers (Orsini 2016; Wall 2012; Mascarenhas 2011; Kinslow 2014; Boladeras, Wild and Murphy 2016) agree that the viewpoints of communities where oil and gas operations are carried out should be given high priority due to their significant influence over industry activities in their region, as well as the fact that they are the entities most impacted by these activities. This research examined notable conflicts experienced between oil companies and host communities in Africa with the aim to identify means by which relationships between the two aforementioned parties could be made cordial and sustainable. An integrated literature based research method and a case study strategy were adopted for this research. Two frameworks that will support organisations in effectively engaging and establishing cordial relationships with stakeholders were developed by the author; and the key findings of this research are that an effective means of establishing sustainable cordial relationships with host communities in Africa is by involving them in the ownership of operations in their region. This will naturally instill in them some sense of responsibility over the operations, which will in turn enable oil and gas companies to gain the trust, cooperation and support of host communities, as well as the social license to operate in their region. This relationship can be sustained if both parties work collaboratively to determine ways in which benefits from the operations may be maximised.
- Topic:
- Environment, Oil, Gas, and Stakeholders
- Political Geography:
- Africa