Research Library

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.

On March 28, 2017, Energy Dialogues organized an event co-hosted with Shell at the Shell Woodcreek Campus in west Houston in which participants from across the oil and gas sector engaged in discussions that centered on three themes: economy, environment, and coalition-building. This report summarizes the day's discussions.

Mexico is gradually laying the foundation for an oil and gas sector where private—along with some state-owned—international companies are taking central stage. However, authorities should not ignore the necessity of developing a domestic oil and gas sector, writes Adrian Duhalt in a post for the Baker Institute blog.

The energy reform in Mexico has implemented far-reaching changes in the political, economic, and legal spheres of the country. Any process whereby an industry is opened to private investment investment gives rise to the possibility of disputes that need to be settled within an environment of legal certainty. International arbitration in general, and investment arbitration in particular, are tools that serve both the investor and the state to properly resolve disputes that arise in the energy sector. However, the author argues that a balance must be sought between the legitimate interests and expectations of an investor and the public policy interests of the state, particularly whenever a sector as significant as energy is concerned.

To gain public support for Mexico’s energy reforms, the government promised a future of low gas prices. The author documents the fallout when gas prices instead shot up 20 percent. 

The extent of fuel theft from pipelines in Mexico is now so great that it is becoming a serious financial burden for state-owned petroleum company Pemex and, more broadly, may pose a challenge to the implementation of policies designed to liberalize Mexico's gasoline market, writes postdoctoral fellow Adrian Duhalt.

Social media is becoming more and more a part of the daily political process. From a political science perspective, the ability to capture the ideology of elites and citizens using a common platform greatly helps in answering a very important question: which party’s ideological position is closest to that of its supporters, on a left-right ideology scale? Research scholar Abdullah Aydogan analyzes the tweets of four major Turkish political parties to answer this question in a post for the Baker Institute Blog.

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.

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“If I were to pick a single indicator—economic…

Mexico should consider expanding its 2014 energy reform legislation by further designing policies that seek to promote enhanced generation output and capacity, which could expand economic growth, the authors write in this study: http://bit.ly/2DpaDai