International markets, energy industries, and access to oil and gas resources
 

 

Researchers : Sadek Boussena, Patrick Criqui, Catherine Locatelli. Doctorate student : Sylvain Rossiaud ________________________________________________________

 

• International energy markets The analysis of international energy markets – i.e. the interaction of demand, supply, and prices with national policies (US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, etc.) and with corporate strategies (multinational and state enterprises) – is a long-standing research field at LEPII-EEPD. Thirty years after the first oil price shocks, international energy markets, geopolitics, and the organization of energy industries and market institutions are changing rapidly once again. . The transformations underway in the globalised international economy and among geopolitical relationships call into question the future evolution of oil and gas markets. One must now consider the ever more complex dynamics and relationships between oil and gas market fundamentals (demand, supply, and prices), national strategies (exporting and importing countries), competition among multinationals, and the institutional dynamics that frame the actions and relations among market actors. The core issues in this field of research derive from the fundamental and pronounced divide among the regions where most oil resources are concentrated and the regions where most oil is consumed, and consuming regions, the major industrialized economies, such as the US, and emerging economies, such as China. This presents the two-faceted problem of access to upstream oil resources, and security of energy supply in a globalizing economy. The current configuration of producing regions dominated by state oil companies, largely closed to international investors, should be considered unstable. This unstable configuration promises to yield major institutional, political, and economic changes. Will these changes enable a major influx of international capital into areas previously closed to international oil companies ? This analysis is conducted with the help of the POLES prospective global energy model. It is also informed by the analysis of institutional determinants of industrial and firm organization changes. Industries and companies are subject to important changes in their regulatory environment, and this phenomenon leads to an important area of research on the influence of institutions. The key question is the following: how do institutional frameworks emerge and how do they impact industrial efficiency and dynamics ? [publications] • Organization of energy industries Research on the organization of energy industries is focused on transition economies and developing countries. The influence of specific institutional environments on the feasibility of market reforms and resulting adaptation are analyzed in their relation to the dynamics of regional market integration. [publications]