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142. Adapting to Plenty: Effects of the Oil and Gas Boom
- Author:
- Bill White and Leonard Coburn
- Publication Date:
- 10-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Aspen Institute
- Abstract:
- The evolution from energy scarcity to abundance in the United States creates dislocations. Technology, infrastructure, laws, regulations, trade flows, and environmental and security policies developed during American energy deficits must be adapted to cope with its new energy prosperity. Significant improvements in oil and gas technology are leading to production increases outpacing projections. A need for infrastructure development follows energy production, necessitating adaptations. Laws passed in the 1970s during times of energy disruptions require reconsideration in a period of relative plenty. The shift of the United States and Canada from an oil and gas importing region to an exporting region has enormous global implications. Policies need to be readjusted in light of new realities, and the effects of the oil and gas boom in North America will require new thinking by governments, industry and consumers.
- Topic:
- Energy Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States and North America
143. The Politics of Plenty: Balancing Climate and Energy Security
- Author:
- David Burwell
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- The United States is entering an era of oil and gas abundance. Its new resources will increase U.S. energy security, but they may also undermine climate security—as fossil fuel combustion increases, so too does global warming. Unless Washington enacts a plan to simultaneously advance its competing energy and climate security objectives, it risks squandering the benefits of its new resources and suffering the disastrous effects of climate change.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, Industrial Policy, Oil, and Natural Resources
- Political Geography:
- United States
144. Trading Up: The Case for an International Carbon Market Reserve to Reduce Volatility at the Limits in 2020 and Beyond
- Author:
- Nigel Purvis, Abigail Jones, and Cecilia Springer
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Climate policymakers face major challenges when designing future global carbon markets—those involving carbon transactions between “buyers” (predominantly developed countries to date) and “sellers” (mainly developing countries, particularly least developed nations). On one hand, domestic carbon markets are currently spreading and linking rapidly around the world. By 2015, based on already announced policies, carbon markets will cover almost 3 billion people and the lion's share of the world's economy. Because carbon markets, and carbon pricing instruments in general, present the most flexible mechanism to create low-carbon economies, carbon markets are likely to play a major role in future efforts to confront climate change—perhaps on the order of shouldering 50 percent of the solution.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Globalization, Oil, and Natural Resources
145. China and the Arctic: China's Interests and Participation in the Region
- Author:
- Kai Sun
- Publication Date:
- 11-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- As China's presence in the Arctic grows, international attention on China in the Arctic also grows. This paper clarifies why China is interested in the Arctic and its role in joining the Arctic play, and touches on future trends in this regard. The paper begins with a discussion of China's recent Arctic capacity building and diplomacy, and the surge of interest in Arctic affairs by Chinese social scientists and strategists in recent years. China looks north for basically four reasons: it is influenced by environmental changes in the Arctic; it is drawn by the business opportunities arising from the opening of the Arctic passages and better access to Arctic resources; and it is also committed to maintaining good governance in the Arctic — which is also in its best interests.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Economics, Oil, Natural Resources, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- China and Israel
146. Arctic Prospects and Challenges from a Korean Perspective
- Author:
- Young Kil Park
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- South Korea's interest in the Arctic reached a peak on May 15, 2013, when the country obtained permanent observer status in the Arctic Council. The country's interest in the Arctic began in the 2000s, following reports of new sea route created by accelerated thawing in the Arctic due to increasing temperatures. A South Korean shipping company completed Korea's first commercial freight voyage via the Arctic Ocean on October 22, 2013, after taking 35 days to make the journey from Ust-Luga port of Russia to Gwangyang port of Korea. This paper examines South Korea's interest and involvement in the Arctic and analyzes its challenges. The paper summarizes the Arctic-related activities the country has pursued so far; examines specific interests in the fields of science, sea routes and hydrocarbon resources, fishing and governance; and, finally, evaluates the challenges ahead. South Korea has made significant progress in entering the Arctic Ocean but many grave challenges must be addressed before the Arctic can become the source of economic prosperity.
- Topic:
- Economics, Oil, Maritime Commerce, Natural Resources, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Israel, South Korea, and Korea
147. Geopolitical Shifts in the Eastern Mediterranean
- Author:
- Patrick Nopens
- Publication Date:
- 02-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
- Abstract:
- Three major geopolitical events are putting the stability of the Eastern Mediterranean at risk. Most of the region is in a deep monetary and economic crisis. The Arab Spring is causing turmoil in the Levant and the Maghreb. Gas and oil discoveries, if not well managed, could further destabilise the region. At the same time, Russia and Turkey are staging a comeback. In the face of these challenges, the EU approaches the Greek sovereign debt crisis nearly exclusively from a financial and economic viewpoint. This brief argues that the EU has to develop a comprehensive strategy for the region, complementing its existing multilateral regional framework with bilateral agreements in order to secure its interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- Topic:
- Security, Debt, Oil, Regime Change, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Europe, Turkey, and Arabia
148. 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
149. 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
150. 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