The Middle East Energy Roundtable (MEER) is a joint initiative of the Center for Energy Studies and Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East. We bring scholars together with members of the energy industry and diplomatic community to deepen understanding of Middle Eastern energy and geopolitics, and generate policy research and partnerships.

Since launching in 2022, the roundtable’s hybrid seminars have explored pressing energy issues including political disputes and diplomatic initiatives, war and unrest, climate change, economic diversification, and varied risk exposures affecting investors in the region.

Aerial view of the Strait of Hormuz

Roundtables

Meetings are invitation-based and held under the Chatham House rule, which restricts attribution of our discussions to participants, although we publish summaries of proceedings.

To express interest in attending our events, join the Middle East Energy Roundtable mailing list, or suggest a topic for discussion, please contact Ana Martín Gil at [email protected].

Past presenters and participants include senior executives at Kuwait Petroleum, Chevron, and ENI along with executives from Saudi Aramco and Shell; analysts from Rystad Energy, Facts Global Energy, Qamar Energy, and the Middle East Economic Survey; investment banks like Artemis Energy Partners; major law firms; staff and senior officials from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Department of Energy; as well as Houston-based diplomats from the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

Past meetings have covered:

  • Iran’s oil export strategy under U.S. sanctions
  • Natural gas developments amid conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean
  • The climate dilemma in the Persian Gulf
  • Geopolitics of the Houthi campaign in the Red Sea 
  • Fixing Iraq’s power grid
  • Mohammad bin Salman and the transformation of Saudi Arabia
  • Assessing the prospects for clean hydrogen in the Middle East

Directors

Portrait of Jim Krane

Jim Krane

Diana Tamari Sabbagh Fellow in Middle East Energy Studies | CES Lead, Energy and Geopolitics in the Middle East | Codirector, Middle East Energy Roundtable

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