Working Papers
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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Energy Efficiency – Should We Take It Seriously?
Published: 19th December 2011| By: Malcolm Keay
In this Paper, Malcolm Keay looks at governments’ uncritical reliance on energy efficiency to achieve multiple energy policy objectives. He concludes that most existing programmes are ill-directed, badly monitored and probably ineffective in reducing energy demand and emissions – indeed they may be diverting attention from more effective measures. A more targeted approach is needed [...]
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Domestic Gas Prices in Russia – Towards Export Netback?
Published: 4th November 2011| By: James Henderson
This paper, by James Henderson, concludes that Russian domestic gas prices are not likely to reach European netback levels any time soon, but that the momentum of the past five years towards significantly higher domestic prices will continue, leading to an eventual liberalization of the Russian gas market. Over the next decade, this could create [...]
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Expanding the European dimension in energy policy: the Commission’s latest initiatives
Published: 28th October 2011| By: David Buchan
The European Commission has broken new ground in proposing to streamline national planning approval of vital energy infrastructure, use EU funds to leverage private finance for such networks and to negotiate foreign pipelines on the EU’s behalf. These initiatives coincide awkwardly with the eurozone crisis. But David Buchan broadly endorses Brussels’ attempt to kick-start implementation [...]
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The Pricing Debate over Russian Gas Exports to China
Published: 3rd October 2011| By: James Henderson
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies has recently published a paper which concludes that agreement between Russia and China for pipeline gas exports may not be reached this year or even in 2012. The paper by James Henderson suggests that the Chinese have developed other gas import options from Central Asia, Myanmar and a range [...]
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The Implications of the Arab Uprisings for Oil and Gas Markets
Published: 13th September 2011| By: Hakim Darbouche, Bassam Fattouh
The events that took place in the Arab world in the opening months of 2011 mark a watershed in the history of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Given the importance of MENA energy supplies in global economic terms, the political unrest witnessed by the region has caused widespread fears about the prospect [...]
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Oil Revenues and Economic Development: The Case of Rajasthan, India
Published: 22nd August 2011| By: Paul Segal, Anupama Sen
In 2004 a large discovery of oil was made in Rajasthan, a relatively poor state in north-west India. Oil began to flow in 2009. The estimated total hydrocarbons resource base in Rajasthan is 6.5 billion barrels, and the fields are estimated to have the potential to reach output levels of over 200,000 barrels of oil [...]
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Energy Poverty in the Arab World: The Case of Yemen
Published: 12th August 2011| By: Bassam Fattouh, Laura El-Katiri
While much of the emphasis of the literature on energy poverty is on the prevalence of the phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, little has been written about energy poverty in the Arab world. Traditionally having being seen as one of the world’s most energy rich regions, the Arab world has in recent years [...]
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The Spanish Gas Market: Demand Trends Post Recession and Consequences for the Industry
Published: 9th August 2011| By: Anouk Honoré
In parallel with a flourishing economy, the natural gas industry in Spain was characterised by rapid consumption growth in the late 1990s and 2000s. Infrastructure and supplies were designed to meet the needs of a gas market growing at double digit rates each year. This high growth rate – for a European gas market – [...]
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The Impact of Import Dependency and Wind Generation on UK Gas Demand and Security of Supply to 2025
Published: 4th August 2011| By: Howard Rogers
This paper by Howard Rogers challenges the assumption of UK government policy papers and projections that, as a result of substantial increases in renewable and other low carbon generation capacity, the role of gas in the will decline rapidly over the next decade and beyond. The study suggests that gas will retain a central and [...]
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