Experts in the News

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA issued a statement guaranteeing "legal security" for all foreign companies in the nation, rebuffing a government advisor's suggestion that their operations could be nationalized. Francisco Monaldi, fellow in Latin American energy studies, believes that firms may still curtail investment into Venezuelan ventures until after the uncertainty is resolved. "This will pour cold water (on investments)," he commented in an interview with Reuters.

Six months into the Trump administration, there are reportedly 46 unfilled science positions that require a Senate confirmation, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy staff has been whittled from 100 to 35. Physicist Neal Lane, senior fellow in science and technology policy and former science advisor to President Bill Clinton, discussed how science policy might move ahead with these vacancies in a segment on NPR's Science Friday.

Originally elected as a tea party conservative who vowed to challenge the Washington establishment, Sen. Ted Cruz’s role in the Senate and his approach to politics has now changed in response to Donald Trump’s election as president, the Dallas Morning New reports. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones said Cruz has to be more delicate in his criticism of Trump.

Linda A. Capuano, fellow in energy technology, gave a presentation on the water–energy nexus and water resource sustainability at the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2017 conference, which also featured addresses by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Her talk was covered in an article in Oil & Gas Journal

On Monday, Sen. Bob Corker, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that he would block all sales of arms to members of the Gulf Cooperation Council until the ongoing diplomatic crisis with Qatar was resolved. "Corker's letter was a shot across the bows of the White House and a clear signal of frustration at the way the president and his team have handled the Gulf crisis," said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen in an interview with Deutsche Welle.