PUBLICATIONS
www.trade.gov
August 2012
"Natural Gas Development in Kurdistan: A Financial Assessment"
By Stephen A. Elliott and Louis B. Beryl
This report summarizes the context of natural gas development in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan), assesses the major risk factors and opportunities, and presents a financial model for natural gas development projects.
Wikipedia Commons
February 14, 2013
"'Energy Independence' Alone Won't Boost U.S. Power"
Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
“We are finally poised to control our own energy future,” said President Barack Obama in his State of the Union message, noting the drastic increase in American energy production from unconventional oil and gas resources.
Controlling our energy future means more than just producing a greater amount of our own energy. It also means harnessing this energy renaissance to meet our global geopolitical needs. We’ve begun to reap the many economic benefits this boom brings—such as easing the trade deficit and lowering carbon emissions. But we have only started to appreciate how this energy renaissance affects our larger strategic environment. And, not surprisingly, many readers of the tea leaves have confused reality with desire, by hoping more energy at home will mean keeping out of the volatile politics and economics of the Middle East.
AP Images
December 13, 2012
"Egypt’s Constitution Needs an Expiration Date"
Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Egyptians living abroad began voting Dec. 12 on whether to accept the nation’s proposed new constitution. Yet, even as they took to the polls and those in the country prepared to vote this weekend, President Mohamed Mursi continued to meet with a “national dialogue” committee on compromises that might allow more members of the opposition to accept the controversial draft.
Winter 2012-2013
"On Tap at Belfer Center: Oil and Water"
Belfer Center Newsletter
Leonardo Maugeri writes that oil production capacity is surging in the United States and several other countries at such a fast pace that global oil output capacity is likely to grow by nearly 20 percent by 2020—possibly prompting a plunge or even a collapse in oil prices.
November 20, 2012
"The IEA's Poor Performance and the Risks of an Era of Oil Abundance"
By Leonardo Maugeri, Roy Family Fellow, Geopolitics of Energy Project
"Although quite late, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has noticed that American crude oil production is increasing at an unprecedented rate, and that it will continue to do so. In a report published only one year ago, the Agency had largely underestimated the phenomenon, as had many others....In its new World Energy Outlook 2012, the IEA now expects that the US will produce 11.1 million barrels per day....But the IEA numbers suffer from more than tardiness," writes Leonardo Maugeri, a former senior executive at Eni and current fellow with the Belfer Center's Geopolitics of Energy Project
November 6, 2012
"The Coming Oil Glut"
Wall Street Journal
By Leonardo Maugeri, Roy Family Fellow, Geopolitics of Energy Project
"The price of oil continues to be set by fear, not by supply and demand," writes Leonard Maugeri. "World-wide oil production is growing quickly. By the end of the year, it will probably surpass 92 million barrels per day, with additional spare capacity of more than 3.5 million barrels. Thanks to the shale oil revolution, U.S. crude production could exceed 6.5 million barrels per day by the end of the year: around one million more barrels than the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted in January."
Hussein Mala - AP Images
October 2, 2012
"Muslim Anger Could Spur Economic Growth"
Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
As the violent anti-American protests in the Muslim world subside, those in the region and in the U.S. are wondering whether the upheaval will have a permanent effect.
July 2012
The Geopolitics of Natural Gas
By Amy Myers Jaffe and Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Some of the most dramatic energy developments of recent years have been in the realm of natural gas. Huge quantities of unconventional US shale gas are now commercially viable, changing the strategic picture for the United States by making it self-sufficient in natural gas for the foreseeable future. This development alone has reverberated around the globe, causing shifts in patterns of trade and leading other countries in Europe and Asia to explore their own shale gas potential. Such developments are putting pressure on longstanding arrangements, such as oil-linked gas contracts and the separate nature of North American, European, and Asian gas markets, and may lead to strategic shifts, such as the weakening of Russia’s dominance in the European gas market.
AP Images
July 30, 2012
"Mexican Oil Reforms Are Vital on Both Sides of the Border"
Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
In recent days a coalition of Mexican advocacy groups has been protesting in front of Televisa, the country’s largest TV network, to contest the legitimacy of President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto’s July 1 victory.
Vahid Salemi - AP Images
July 6, 2012
"Will Iran Crack?"
Los Angeles Times
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
The latest Iran sanctions came into full effect this week, adding to a byzantine array of unilateral and multilateral measures that prohibit Iranian oil imports, other trade and financial transactions, and freeze Iranian assets by countries concerned that Tehran's nuclear program is intended for military purposes, not civilian ones.
