Category: Global Energy Forum

China Shifts into Top Gear on Electric Cars

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Beijing’s strategy seen likely to have a global impact China’s heavy investment in electric cars will have a significant global impact, panelists said at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on January 12. China has “put all of their R&D bet on mobility in electric vehicles, not one dime in internal combustion […]

OPEC President Sees Oil-Cut Deal Sticking Through 2018

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The United Arab Emirates’ minister of energy and industry said on January 12 that a deal that cuts oil output with the goal of pushing prices higher will stick through the end of December 2018—despite rumblings in Russia for an early exit. Speaking at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, Suhail Mohamed […]

Atlantic Council Kicks Off Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The Atlantic Council kicked off its second annual Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on January 12. Atlantic Council President and Chief Executive Officer Frederick Kempe said that the forum, which marks the start of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, convenes the world’s energy leaders to “take stock of the challenges we […]

Renewable energy in the Middle East

By Jean-François Seznec

Across the Middle East and North Africa, population growth is driving demand for air conditioning, water, and infrastructure, which has in turn led to more demand for electricity. While oil and gas technologies are notably developed across the Middle East and North Africa, renewable deployment and the development of a renewable technology sector, is a relatively new—and rapid—development.

Shaping Iraq’s oil and gas future

By Ellen Scholl

Oil production already provides much-needed revenue and economic development and underwrites the Iraqi federal budget. Meanwhile, gas development could also play a key role in Iraq’s future by fostering broad based economic development, improving electric service provision, and fostering value-added industries.

Energy: Driving force behind increasing female participation in the Gulf

By Bina Hussein

When global oil and gas prices fell in 2014, many oil-producing countries, including those in the Gulf, felt the consequences and began to face the stark reality that oil revenue-based economies must diversify in order to continue prospering. Due to the dominant role that energy plays in the region’s economies, the energy sector is in a position to make tremendous progress in increasing female workforce participation through their planned reforms and thus set an example for others.

Downstream oil theft: Implications and next steps

By Dr. Ian M. Ralby

On January 13, 2017, the Atlantic Council launched a major study on downstream oil theft at its inaugural Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Downstream Oil Theft: Implications and Next Steps draws on the launch event to examine the implications of the study's findings and to suggest tangible next steps in both further investigating this global scourge and beginning to confront it effectively.

UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050 Embraces Renewables

The changing dynamics of the energy landscape have undeniable geopolitical implications, said the United Arab Emirates’ Energy Minister, Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, noting that his nation has made great strides toward establishing regional stability through the development of clean energy. “In any geopolitical situation… you’ll find energy is either an enabler or an issue […]

OPEC Oil Deal Will Stick, say Energy Ministers

The oil production cuts set forth in a deal recently enacted by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will be upheld by the nations involved, effectively stabilizing the global energy market, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC’s secretary general, said in Abu Dhabi on January 12. “I remain very confident with what I have seen […]

Trump’s Energy, Climate Positions Causing Concern

By Ashish Kumar Sen

While there is “quite a bit of concern” about the direction of US President-elect Donald Trump’s energy policy, he is unlikely to take the United States out of the Paris climate change agreement for the simple reason that doing so would cause “huge collateral damage” to the United States, Todd Stern, a former US State […]