Energy Comments
The Oxford Energy Comment is written by members of the research team and may take the form of a market commentary and reflections, or concern aspects of research in progress.
In all cases, the views expressed are those of the authors, and should not be taken to represent the position of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
Back to the Future: Electricity Market Reform Update
Published: 20th December 2011| By: Malcolm Keay
The Government has published what is called a “technical update” to its electricity market reform White Paper. This Comment by Malcolm Keay analyses the new proposals and their implications. Many important questions about the new system remain unanswered, but the overall direction is clear – towards a planned electricity system whose function is to deliver [...]
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Peering into the future fog of CO2 – how road maps can help
Published: 20th December 2011| By: David Buchan
The term ‘road map’ is proliferating in energy and climate policy to denote any policy or aspiration projected into the future. Connie Hedegaard, Europe’s environment commissioner, hailed the Durban conference agreement as a ‘road map’ to an eventual global climate deal. This contrasts with the far more detailed road maps that she and her European [...]
Download the Publication 72.48KBCategories / Energy and the Environment, Energy Comments, Energy Policy, Renewable
BP, Russian billionaires, and the Kremlin: a Power Triangle that never was
Published: 23rd November 2011| By: Shamil Midkhatovich Yenikeyeff
In this Comment, Dr Shamil Yenikeyeff analyses the reasons for the collapse of BP’s Arctic partnership with the Russian state company Rosneft. He argues that the BP–Rosneft deal was inauspicious even before it was signed due to the history of the Kremlin’s reluctance to back BP plc in its often uneasy relations with the AAR [...]
Download the Publication 239.66KBCategories / Country and Regional Studies, Energy Comments, Energy Comments, Energy Policy, Energy Security, Finance, Gas, Oil
Plan C: The role of the Kyoto Protocol in a legally binding outcome
Published: 3rd October 2011| By: Benito Müller
This Oxford Energy and Environment Brief by Dr Benito Müller (Director Energy and Climate change at OIES) discusses a way in which the Kyoto Protocol could be used to provide the framework for a legally binding outcome in the current UN climate change Negotiations.
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Return of the P-word: the Government’s Electricity White Paper
Published: 14th July 2011| By: Malcolm Keay
The Government has published its White Paper on Electricity Market Reform, which reintroduces the concept of central planning for the UK energy system. Malcolm Keay examines the proposals and their implications for electricity markets in this country; this may not be the last word in market reform ….
Download the Publication 102.32KBCategories / Electricity & Nuclear, Energy and the Environment, Energy Comments, Energy Policy, Energy Security, Publications
Applying belt and braces to EU energy policy
Published: 11th July 2011| By: David Buchan
New proposed rules to save energy are encroaching on the Emissions Trading Scheme. David Buchan examines the growing tension inherent in Europe’s belt and braces approach of trying to combine increasing regulation of energy efficiency and renewables with the market mechanism of the ETS. The simple solution would be to reduce the supply of ETS [...]
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Solidarity Levies on Air Travel: The case for a ready-made innovative stream of finance in support of the current international climate negotiations
Published: 30th March 2011| By: Peter Lockley, Muyeye Chambwera
In this Oxford Energy and Environment, Peter Lockley and Muyeye Chambwera, discuss Airline Passenger Levies as a practical innovative finance option for developed countries to provide the essential start-up funds for the new Global Climate Fund which is meant to be operationalised in December at the next UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. [...]
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Uncertainty, Expectations, and Fundamentals: Whatever Happened to Long-Term Oil Prices?
Published: 30th March 2011| By: Bassam Fattouh
One of the major features of the oil market during the 1990s was the relative stability of the long-term oil price. While the spot price and the price of near-term futures contracts sometimes exhibited sharp price volatility that volatility was only partially transmitted to the back end of the futures curve which was anchored around [...]
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The Green Climate Fund
Published: 20th February 2011| By: Farrukh Khan
In this Oxford Energy and Environment Brief, Farrukh Khan – lead climate negotiator for Pakistan, and Chair of the Adaptation Fund Board – discusses what will need to be done in the time up to the next UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa (December 2011), in order to bring the talks on climate [...]
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What to do now?: Elements for organizing the Transitional Committee to establish the Green Climate Fund based on lessons learned from the Global Fund experience
Published: 1st January 2011| By: Benito Müller
This Oxford Energy and Environment Brief by Sven Harmeling and Benito Müller based on lessons learned particularly from the process of establishing the Global Fund puts forward five organizational elements for the work of the Transitional Committee: (i) Mutually respected leadership (ii) Specific drafting groups and clusters of work (iii) Broad expertise and skills to [...]
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