Research Library

This brief examines trends in energy demand patterns highlighted by 2018 energy outlooks prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the International Energy Agency, and BP.

In June 2018, Saudi Arabia finally put an end to its legal ban on women driving, opening the way for millions of new drivers to navigate across a country three times bigger than Texas. While the long-overdue policy shift provides relief to women who lacked freedom of mobility, the onset of so many new drivers has enormous consequences for transportation and the energy sector, as well as labor market participation and public health.

Fellow Joe Barnes blogs on the Trump administration's new approach to Iran, as laid out by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

This report highlights the results from an expert survey carried out as part of a two-year research project on pluralism and inclusion in the post-Arab Spring regional landscape, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The survey generated policy-relevant responses that provide nuanced insight into key public policy challenges in Gulf countries that — Bahrain apart —did not experience significant political upheaval after 2011 but nevertheless could see economic (un)sustainability develop into major determinants of political (in)stability in the years ahead.

The political, economic, and financial aspects of sustaining an oil blockade against China mean that even a militarily successful blockader could find its political, economic, and diplomatic position untenable well before a blockade could exert its full effects.

The outlook for the Venezuelan oil industry and the broader economic and political challenges facing the country are intrinsically linked. This report summarizes possible political and economic scenarios, as well as potential next steps for the country, discussed during a workshop convened by Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.

The list of 13 demands presented in June 2017 by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates suggests a supremely ambitious set of goals behind their embargo of Qatar, including “red lines” that touch directly upon Qatari sovereignty and that Doha will almost certainly reject. The stage is thus set for a contest of endurance, one that with every passing month looks more likely to result in favor of Qatar, writes fellow Gabriel Collins in this brief.

As China’s demand for light oil products continues to drive incremental consumption growth, it is becoming apparent that commodities framed as “oil products” are increasingly not actually made from crude oil. Fellow Gabriel Collins explores the possible ramifications of this situation in this issue brief. He writes that oil producers — whether in Riyadh, Moscow or the Permian Basin — should take stock of how China’s growing use of “oil products” that do not actually come from crude oil may translate into effective reductions in demand and prices for the crude oil they produce.

The relationship between the United States and its Gulf allies has evolved in important ways since President Jimmy Carter’s 1980 declaration of American “vital interests” in the Persian Gulf — the “Carter Doctrine” — and while many circumstances have changed, the rationale for maintaining U.S. protection for Gulf oil supplies remains strong, authors Gabriel Collins and Jim Krane write in this paper.

Larger trucks and SUVs with powerful, high-displacement engines are the low-hanging fruit for any policymaker seeking the most efficient path to reducing gasoline use and the associated emissions.