Research Library

The mix of good short-term prospects for oil revenues along with long-term market uncertainties has a clear policy implication for oil-dependent Latin American economies: use the larger short-term revenues to diversify their economies, nonresident fellow José Antonio Ocampo writes in a new issue brief.

On August 31, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the shared goal of accelerating and streamlining the permit application review process for proposed LNG facilities. Fellow Rachel A. Meidl explores the significance and possible impact of this MOU.

This brief sets out some of the major structural reforms to taxes, subsidies, and debt issuance in the GCC that are shifting financial burdens from the state to its citizens and residents.

GCC states have taken an active role in supporting entrepreneurship creation, as part of efforts to diversify and grow their economies. Yet while state-led entrepreneurship policies have worked to achieve many positive outcomes, they have also revealed some major shortcomings, such as reinforcing the political status quo and limiting the possibility of genuine change toward democratization. M. Evren Tok explores these issues in both a short issue brief and longer research paper on pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. The project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The author examines the key challenges and opportunities of integrating climate policies with Gulf Cooperation Council economic diversification strategies, particularly in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

As the competition between the U.S. and China intensifies, energy fellow Gabriel Collins calls for U.S. leadership in a technology race that will determine global influence for decades to come.

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.

Since 2010, Mexico’s demand for natural gas has been accompanied by a decline in domestic production, making imports of this resource increasingly vital. The author of this brief argues that private and state-owned firms — from producers to pipeline operators — and a solid governmental regulatory apparatus must now help guarantee the consistent supply of natural gas.

Cultural myths — and by extension, the suppositions they inspire — have played a major role in shaping Venezuela's relationship with and management of oil resources throughout much of the last 100 years, writes nonresident fellow Luis Pacheco. To achieve sustainable economic and social development, Venezuela must move beyond such beliefs and establish a new approach that is more attuned to current times.