Research Library

Prices of natural gas have fallen precipitously in recent months as the global COVID-19 pandemic deepened the already existing misalignment between growing supply and relatively sluggish demand. Post-COVID-19 recovery should increase the demand through 2022, but a soft market is expected to continue through 2025. These conditions could provide an unprecedented opportunity for natural gas buyers/importers.

The staggering collapse in Venezuela's oil and gas industry has renewed calls for liberalizing reforms. But a democratic transition and legal reforms may not be enough to attract the large investments needed.

A new proposal to clarify and expand U.S. sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline has just been introduced in the U.S. Senate. With many other difficulties facing the NS2 pipeline, the authors look at what options Russia has for NS2 completion.

Once the Covid-19 pandemic has subsided, the new Israeli government will face serious flaws in, among other things, the territorial dimensions of President Trump's “Deal of the Century,” writes Middle East fellow Gilead Sher for the Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/2VvkBPw

Current gloom notwithstanding, oil will likely remain the world’s most important energy resource for multiple decades, says energy fellow Gabriel Collins. Baker Institute blog: https://bit.ly/34fV3d1

"This pandemic and looming economic crisis will affect all of us ... The sooner we relearn how to set aside our differences and unite during this difficult moment, the stronger we will emerge from it," writes former Secretary James A. Baker, III.

The United States' exit from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty appears more like a gesture than part of a well-considered long-term plan. There are few signs that the Trump administration has given substantial thought to how the U.S. can best protect its interests in a new and challenging international environment.

While sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline project would be very well received in Central and Eastern Europe, they could make the already strained relationship between U.S. and its Western European allies even more challenging, the author writes in a Forbes blog post: http://bit.ly/305Cc1F and the Baker Institute Blog.

Declarations against violence issued by ulama on behalf of their government provide an opportunity for Muslim political leaders to signal their commitment to the international security agenda while vilifying Islamist opposition actors as terrorists. Baker Institute Blog: https://bit.ly/2LNAZrr

The unintended consequences of tougher U.S. sanctions on Iran continue to accumulate, including stronger ties between Saudi Arabia and Russia and an expansion of Russian geopolitical power, graduate fellow Peter Volkmar writes in a post for the Forbes blog: http://bit.ly/2CS9FE5.