Browsing by Subject "Oil trade"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Open Access
Projections for the geopolitical economy of oil after war in Iraq
(Pergamon Press, 2006) Williams, P. A.
How are events surrounding the latest Iraq war shaping the future global political economy of oil? The saliency of Iraq's oil resources suggests a trend towards intensified great-power competition to dominate energy-rich provinces and transportation corridors. Yet, the nature of the oil trade, Iraq's insurrection, and Sino-American economic interdependence indicate barriers to unilateral attempts to control energy supplies. Based on examination of the Iraq conflict's unintended stimulus to terrorism and to China's search for foreign oil supplies, this paper assesses three possible scenarios: 'multiple energy insecurity' (great-power competition and violent non-state reaction); 'mutual energy securitisation' (inter-state collusion against non-state resource claimants); and 'multiple energy security' (great-power curtailment of geographically expansive energy consumption). It finds that the increasing problems associated with the first two alternatives are inducing decision-makers to contemplate policy options consistent with the third scenario.
Open Access
State and substate oil trade: the Turkey‐KRG Deal
(Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2016) Özdemir, Volkan; Raszewski, S.
After the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, there has been increasing tension between the central government in Baghdad and the Erbil‐based Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern part of the country. Although KRG President Masoud Barzani supported Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al‐Maliki in the federal elections of 2010, the two sides have been in open conflict over energy projects within the semiautonomous Kurdish region. The KRG is a substate actor in regional relations whose international legal status has not yet been determined. It is important to note that any future determination will undoubtedly hinge on oil and gas resources. Maliki's administration has consistently argued that the Federal Oil Ministry has primary authority over Iraq's oil sector. The KRG has claimed independent authority over energy resources in the region, including the right to sign oil‐field exploration and production contracts within its territory, govern oil fields, and export oil and natural gas. The federal constitution of Iraq regulates the oil revenue‐sharing mechanism and other features related to energy exploration and production. Following from this, all petroleum exported from Iraq should be marketed through the country's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), with the KRG receiving 17 percent of the resulting revenues. However, the regulation of the energy sector in the KRG is unclear.