In spite of the fact that Russia and China share the world's longest common border and a common desire to provide energy resources (Russia) and to consume them (China), all is not what it is cracked up to be. The 'strategic relationship' may be weaker than it first appears, given China's economic ascendancy and a wobbly-outlook for Russia's future against a dramatic fall in the price of its natural gas exports. There are bright spots in bilateral energy relations however. How this energy-relationship has evolved over the past year and where it might be headed is explored in the following pages.
The Evolution of Energy Security in the Slovak Republic
Historically burdened by energy supply and gas transit dependence on the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic is awakening to the new realities provided by a tangible manifestation of a common European market for energy and power. This has, however, been a painful evolution made all the more troublesome by the significant costs associated with the January 2009 gas crisis. CEE energy experts Andrej Nosko and Petr Ševce tell us where this EU and NATO Member State is headed in shoring up its own energy security future.
Fifty Years to OPEC: Time to Break the Oil Cartel
“Technology is a real enemy for OPEC” (Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, former Saudi oil minister)
OPEC is celebrating its fiftieth birthday and the world should take note. OPEC certainly will. Through the cartelization of the world’s most strategic commodity, oil, it wields inordinate power built with the wealth of world oil consumers. This needn’t be the case. Solutions exist today in the form of technologies readily adaptable to petroleum-fired combustion engines. Alternative fuels exist which can compete with the cost per gallon of a gasoline-driven vehicle. But political inertia, among other barriers, has inhibited individuals and nations alike from breaking oil’s stranglehold over transportation fuel. Oil still rules. Clearly, it is time to break this paradigm.
Brazil's Big Oil Play: How This Nation is Charting National Energy Security
Brazil for decades has marched towards national energy security by combining a national push towards integrating ethanol into its national fuel mix, accompanied by the large scale introduction of flex-fuel vehicles. Brazil has now accelerated its national energy security objectives through the discovery and exploitation of new 'pre-salt' oil reserves. Over the next five years Brazil may challenge the status-quo of the world's oil architecture with output levels equal to some of OPEC's largest producers. How the country evolved to this envious position is the subject of the following article by first-time JES contributor Mark Langevin.
Bringing Energy Security to East Central Europe: Regional Cooperation Is the Key
The energy challenges facing Central and Southeastern Europe (CSEE) are formidable. For the most part these states represent relatively small markets. While inter-connectors are being built for trans-border energy and power transmission and distribution, taken as a whole the region is nowhere near the creation of an integrated network that would allow for, as an example, reverse flow of natural gas across many or all borders during a time of crisis. The region also needs consistent and stable cross-border regulatory policies, the creation of bulwark-infrastructure that would allow for sufficient economies of scale consistent with large scale foreign investment. Another necessary adjustment is for the region to have a common carrier system. Former US Ambassador and long-time friend of
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Keith Smith looks at some of these problems in depth with a close look as well at Russia’s role and imp...
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