In a Dubai Initiative Brown Bag Seminar on March 11, 2009, Justin Dargin discussed the roots of the GCC energy crisis and potential solutions. Asking how a region with the some of the world's largest natural gas reserves can face a power and energy crisis, Dargin argued that the crisis can be traced back to the low administrative pricing of natural gas for domestic sales. He argued that, without some type of minor price liberalization, the region's prodigious natural gas reserves will remain inefficiently exploited.

In his contribution to the recent book Russian and CIS Relations with the Gulf Region, DI Fellow Justin Dargin discusses Russia's energy relationship with the GCC. Click here for the full text.

Dubai Initiative Fellow Justin Dargin quoted in a MEED special report on Egypt's policy for energy companies in its tax free zone and its implications on energy investments.

On March 3, 2009, DI Fellow, Justin Dargin, presented an analysis of the GCC energy sector at the Dubai School of Government. For more information, to access to the presentation slides, and to listen to the presentation audio click here.

From the introduction: "The old, but well known, proverb states, Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish, and you feedhim for life. This sums up in its entirety the fact that despite the best efforts of the World’s numerous aid agencies and NGOs, and despite the billions of aid dollars spent on the world’s poorest communities, poverty has seemingly become more entrenched. However, as shall be discussed subsequently, poverty can be broken, but only if the poor are viewed as creators of their own destinies, and given the tools to attack the problems that beset them."

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From the introduction: "This article examines the legal and political impediments to the Kurdish Regional Government's exploration and production contracts, which the central government in Baghdad has refused to recognize. The newly established Iraqi national constitution significantly opened as many petroleum-control questions as it resolved.

Negotiated in 2005, the constitution not only separated branches of government, but established Federalism as its lodestar. However, faced with unresolved issues over regional and national control over petroleum resources, international oil companies function in an ambiguous legal environment that fails to clearly distinguish between federal and regional powers"

From the introduction:

"While Islamic financial instruments currently make up a small proportion of global finance, they actually experienced an annual 15% growth from 2005 to 2008 (Fig. 1), with the energy-producing Gulf
nations in the Middle East responsible for much of the increase."

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"It seems as if the world has not learnt that the oil industry, much like every other sector of the economy, goes through periodic busts and booms, even though it has been happening since the dawn of the oil industry. John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, the spiritual ancestor of OPEC, was created to combat these market bumps. The current fall in oil price, which may have been precipitated more by fear of a sustained global economic crisis, rather than the actual market fundamentals, shows the fragility of the current global economic order."

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"It seems surprising that an area which has the world waiting breathlessly for any opaque statement about increases in oil and gas production should face a domestic energycrisis at home. In dealing with the crisis, the Gulf has turned to everything from building civilian nuclear plants, engaging in solar energy, looking for renewables and educating the public about conservation.Their reaction to the power crisis concerns the world, because much of our additional gas and oil supplies will be coming from the Gulf, so their reaction directly impacts the rest of us."

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During the November 16-19, 2008 International Conference for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, Justin Dargin moderated the energy panel and lectured on "Rebuilding and Securing Critical Energy Assets in Times of Disaster: Strategies for a Resilient System."

Click here for a PDF of the presentation.