A Point of View on the UK Energy Policy
The United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union at a crucial moment for the Energy Union, and in a period when the necessity of leading a coherent energy transition is strongly shared by EU countries. In the light of this conjunction of events, this study analyses the determining factors of the UK energy policy.
EU Security of Gas Supplies : Solidarity Runs Through the Pipeline
Given the tensions between the EU and its main gas supplier, Russia, the European Commission has been revisiting since 2014 its energy security strategy.
Shadows on Israeli Gas Success Story: a Political and Geopolitical Risk Analysis
In Israel, both the regional geopolitical context and domestic politics play an important role in the development of the offshore gas fields.
The European Gas Market Looking for its Golden Age?
The EU gas policy has to deal with a new landscape on the supply and demand sides. This study examines five major recent evolutions of the EU gas market: the relations with Russia, LNG coming back to Europe, the decrease of Groningen production, the contrasted evolutions of shale gas and the perspectives of EU natural gas demand.
"Russia New Energy Alliances: Mythology versus Reality", Interview with Vladimir MILOV
"Past year has been marked not only with the Ukrainian crisis and unprecedented tensions in political relations between Russia and the West, but also with somewhat radical change of Moscow’s approach to international energy affairs. Widely promoted new energy partnerships with countries like China and Turkey were supposed to demonstrate that Russia has a choice of alternatives for mass-scale international energy cooperation, as compared to previous domination of European dimension, and if West wishes to cut ties with the Kremlin, Russia has somewhere else to go.
Does Russia really have an option of developing new international energy partnerships comparable in scale and significance to those with Europe as the consumer of energy, and with Western IOCs as key agents helping to secure further exploration and development of Russian oil & gas resources?"
East-Mediterranean Gas potential: Opportunities and Barriers
A report released by Insight_e, the European energy consortium specialised on energy policy research and analysis
Lead authors: Constantinos Taliotis (KTH) and Maïté de Boncourt (Ifri), Authoring team: Kimon Keramidas (Enerdata), Reviewer: Paul Deane (UCC)
Oil and Gas in Eastern Africa: Current Developments and Future Perspectives
The position of oil companies toward East Africa has changed considerably since 2006 when the first reserves in Uganda came to light. However, for many investors interested in the region, it remains difficult to get a clear picture of the scale of developments of this sector.
Despite Rising Tensions, Europe to Remain Russia's Main Gas Customer
Tatiana Mitrova, Head of the Oil & Gas Department at the Energy Research Institute in Moscow, joins Hughes Belin to analyse the consequences of troubled EU-Russia relations for energy trade.
Gas Strategy of China: Developing competion between national production and imports
The Chinese gas market is facing four key challenges and the government is elaborating responses which will have implications for the Chinese and world energy markets:
Raising the Costs to President Putin
-by building dissonance within. Some like to remember fondly the call by Ronald Reagan for Gorbachev “to tear down this wall”. The United States “Won the Cold War” said George Bush Senior in his State of the Union Address. We need to step back and recognize with some humility that the Soviet Union fell largely of its own weight rather than as a result of external pressure. Again today Russia is economically weak. It has become an exporter of raw materials, its industrial sector is weak, and its revenues are already falling. Conditions now offer the opportunity to aggravate Russia’s economic frailty – let’s focus on that.
Middle East Oil and Gas Producers: Soon to Be Back in the Lead?
The World Energy Outlook 2013 published by the IEA confirms that despite the rise of unconventional fuels in particular in the US, Middle East will by the mid-2020s retake its place as the world major oil and gas supplier, providing most of the increase in global supplies. Well, there are some big ifs.
Ukraine: Is Europe Ready for Another Gas Cut?
The turmoil in Ukraine is now putting one question on everyone mouth: what if Russian gas transiting through Ukraine was cut once again? Today, Ukrainian gas pipelines still carry around 60% of the Russian gas intended for the European Union; i.e. around 16% of the EU final gas consumption.
How is Russia Adapting to a Threatening New Energy World?
The US shale gas revolution has shaken global gas markets. The US is on the eve of becoming self-sufficient in natural gas (and oil), thanks to the massive discoveries of unconventional resources on their territory, while being able to export part of their production. These developments have been closely watched by traditional oil and gas producers.
The U.S. Oil and Gas Boom
A funny thing happened in the last few years when no one was paying attention. J.R. Ewing, the legendary Texas oilman, and his wife Sue Ellen sold Southfork, their ranch near Dallas, and moved to a new home in Pennsylvania (Northfork?). JR immediately began buying subsurface mineral rights for acres of land above the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in the Appalachian Basin. Cliff Barnes, J.R.'s nemesis, sold all his Texas properties and moved to North Dakota, where he started leasing mineral rights to acreage above the Bakken shale play.
Powering Kuwait into the 21st Century: Alternatives for Power Generation
Kuwait is facing a surge in the consumption of power. The current power fuel mix, based on oil, appears unsustainable. Yet Kuwait has a large number of assets.
Gas Routes to Europe: Real Needs and Political Jockeying
The Energy Roadmap 2050 released by the Commission in December 2011 says it all: we will need more gas until 2030. Gas represents the default solution for a transition to an energy system with less GHG emissions. It also has great value as a back-up for intermittent renewable power generation. Therefore, stating that Europe still needs large quantities of gas means checking if supply volumes are available to satisfy growing demand.
February Gas Pains in Europe - Coping Is Not Managing: the Italian Response to the Gas Crisis
The recent cold spell that gripped much of Europe was a test for the European gas network. In many countries temperatures fell dramatically to -10°C during the first week of February, even dropping a bone chilling - 22°C in some places.
As the European Commission(s Director General for Energy Philippe Lowe said during a speech at our Annual Conference last Thursday (February 16) in Brussels, Europe(s gas network was able to respond to the sharp increase in demand despite a simultaneous drop in supply from Gazprom.
Libya: Old or New Picture? Risks of political uncertainty for the gas and oil business
Libya has an opportunity to get back on track. The end of embargoes and sanctions after the conclusion of the “February Revolution” is favoring a fast production growth.
The U.S. Oil and Gas Boom
A funny thing happened in the last few years when no one was paying attention. J.R. Ewing, the legendary Texas oilman, and his wife Sue Ellen sold Southfork, their ranch near Dallas, and moved to a new home in Pennsylvania (Northfork?). JR immediately began buying subsurface mineral rights for acres of land above the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in the Appalachian Basin.
Trans Caspian Gas: A Worthy Teething Ring for Europe's Energy Diplomats
As an early task in its efforts to build a common external energy policy, the Commission has announced it will turn its attention to bringing the vast gas resources of Turkmenistan to European consumers. This will be an excellent place for the Commission to test its ability to speak with one voice for its polyglot constituency. First, their task may be facilitated by the fact that on this topic, no European voices are yet particularly audible.
Unconventional Gas: A Game Changer for Transport Too?
A new technology trend, the development of natural gas vehicles, is emerging in the transport sector.
The Effects of Baghdad Politics on Kurdistani Gas Prospects
This paper examines the effects of internal Iraqi politics on the potential for exporting Kurdistani natural gas. It examines Baghdad’s policy with regards to both oil and gas, and predicts what effects it will have on Kurdistan’s gas prospects.
Oil and Gas Delivery to Europe: An Overview of Existing and Planned Infrastructures. New Edition
The European Union’s hydrocarbon energy supply depends heavily on imports. While the European Commission has recommended diversifying and increasing domestic resources, notably with renewable resources which should grow to 20% by 2020, dependence on hydrocarbon imports will remain not only substantial, but will increase.
Nordstream: Just-in-time?
Last week the gritty Russian/Ukrainian gas relationship was back in the press. This time the issue appeared to be Ukraine’s efforts to secure lower prices for its consumers - perhaps even on a par with Russia’s domestic consumers. The Ukrainians must surely know that to qualify for those kinds of special prices available previously only to politically compliant neighbors - Ukraine would have to return to some form of pre-Orange Revolution relationship with Mother Russia.
An Azeri-Turkish deal on gas - a partnership renewed
The package of the Azeri-Turkish gas agreements signed in Istanbul on June 7, 2010, in the presence of President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Recep Erdogan certainly makes cooperation easier in a sector which both parties consider to be strategic. It does not, however, specify all details of the sale and transit of gas (see e.g. EurasiaNet, 7 June). The documents above all have important political significance.
Russian Gas Diplomacy
Thank goodness our early warning systems during the cold war were not structured so we could see the flash at the same time we heard the warning. On Monday, the Russians notified the Europeans under an “Early Warning” agreement negotiated after the last Ukrainian gas cutoff that they had already cut gas flows to Belarus by 15% and that would increase cuts to 85% by the end of the week. Not very good news for the Belarusians who enjoy the most gasified economy in the world - everything there runs on gas.
A Smiling Medveded
In Denmark last Tuesday, President Medvedev said he had a smiling face for the world. Not surprising. The deal he is reported to have done with President Yanukovitch should bring smiles to many Russian faces - mostly in the Kremlin. However, it is unlikely that the President’s namesake in Gazprom, Alexandre Medvedev is smiling because his company’s interests have once again been subordinated to Russia’s foreign policy agenda.
Who Needs OPEC - Russia steps up to the Plate ?
News that Conoco will sell off a significant portion of its Russian holdings is couched in terms of various corporate strategies that make all this perfectly normal. Conoco is said to need cash and will anyway have a 10% share remaining in Lukoil that will provide them some degree of influence in corporate decisions.
Security of Supply Is Indivisible
The European gas market has an unusually large number of moving parts just now. Demand forecasts are buffeted by announcements of great expectations in de-carbonizing the energy mix, differing expectations on the longer term economic growth path and a range of assessments on how soon Europe will recover from the economic recession.
Ukraine - A Transit Country in Deadlock? Four Scenarios
Should we consider Ukraine a transit country in deadlock, and reduce its energy role just to that of a transit country? Definitely not, because Ukraine is at once a large gas consumer and producer, and possesses massive storage capacity. But the economic and political situation of the country is alarming, even without considering the possibility of another gas crisis Without such a crisis, however, the event of Ukrainian bankruptcy would attract less broad international attention simply because it would not have direct impact on European gas consumers.
Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2026, Ifri partners with over 90 French and international companies and organizations.
