Oil Geopolitics-Petroleum Distribution (original) (raw)
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Straits, passages and chokepoints: a maritime geostrategy of petroleum distribution
Les Cahiers de Geographie du Quebec, 2004
The transportation of petroleum represents one of the most strategically important circulations of resources in the global economy. Its role cannot be overstated. Yet, petroleum has become a "strategically invisible" commodity as its flow has been continuous with limited, but eye-opening, disruptions such as the First Energy Crisis is 1973. Petroleum supplies are virtually taken for granted. Since approximately two-thirds of the world's petroleum production is shipped by sea, there are inherent distribution constraints, which require navigating through straits and passages; chokepoints of maritime circulation. This paper presents an overview of the geography of oil supply and demand, and the strategic issues that are linked to its maritime circulation. Chokepoints are perceived as resources, the value of which varies according to degree of use. As the era of petroleum domination draws to a close, the importance and vulnerability of strategic passages will increase. Their ability to handle additional traffic appears to be limited, implying that future energy crises or oil shortages are more likely to be attributable to the challenges of distribution.
Restrictions of Passage, Accidents and Oil Transportation Norms: Impact on Supply Security
This paper looks at restrictions of passage, accidents and oil transportation norms as causes of interruption in oil supplies. The key ‘chokepoints’ are discussed in detail: the Straits of Hormuz, Malacca, Bab el-Mandeb, the Canals of Suez and Panama, the Turkish Straits and the entrance to the Baltic Sea. It is concluded that in most cases the danger of closure can only be temporary; nevertheless, investment in bypasses and alternatives is highly desirable, and in the case of the Turkish Straits, has not been forthcoming. The discussion then turns to threats to navigation outside the chokepoints, such as piracy and oil spills in enclosed seas, particularly the Mediterranean. The final section looks at changing international norms, especially the entry into force of the requirement of double hulls for oil tankers. The paper’s main conclusion is that there is no scenario of interruption of maritime oil and gas transportation that may cause a severe physical shortage of oil, in genera...
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AIN journal, ISSN (2090-8202) Vol. 36, 2017
Within the global environment, oil is the fuel and energy source most consumed by all developed and heavily populated countries throughout the world. Also, the demand for oil is continuously growing among the other countries in the world. At the present time, much of the world ' s supply of petroleum originates in the Arab Gulf countries and passes through the Arab Maritime chokepoints. The paper has proven the crucial importance of Arab territory in global oil trade by applying quantitative analytic techniques indicating the volume of oil and its products transported through Arab maritime chokepoints. The Arab countries should grasp this chance to form coalition maritime forces, with the blessing of the international community, to secure the most important international maritime trade routes as well as their own maritime region. Finally, the paper proposed recommendations aim to enhance and ensure Arab maritime security.
DANISH STRAITS VERSUS TURKISH STRAITS: THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF PROSPECTIVE RUSSIAN OIL EXPORTS
The Danish Straits, which connect Baltic Sea to North Sea as an oil transit choke point, are becoming vastly important as a gateway to Europe for Russian oil exports. In terms of the future source of Russian oil, the country is estimated to hold half of the total Arctic resources. This indicates the forthcoming increase in the importance of Danish Straits in the global energy security. Besides, two additional alternative and important choke points are located in Turkey, which are the Straits of Bosporus and Dardanelles, known as Turkish Straits. These straits are also one of the significant exit points of Russian oil exports but as Russia shifted its direction of oil exports toward Baltic ports, the strategic position of Turkish Straits have been affected from this transition as well. It is an open question whether the Turkish Straits will continue to be the outlet of Russian oil exports or the Danish Straits will take over that position in line with the oil resources development in the Arctic Region. This study aims to analyse the Turkish and Danish Straits and establish their significance in terms of energy security. The current and future oil export strategies of Russia on the existing chokepoints are also discussed, with special emphasis on the potential impacts of Arctic development as Russia continues with the exploration and extraction of Arctic oil resources.
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The aim of the Geopolitics of Oil is to find a theoretical conceptualization of oil trade regime evolution and its changes during the period between the end of the World War II and 2011. This thesis builds on the two major theories of international relations: neorealism and interdependence theory. The theoretical part of the paper analyzes their main contributions and weaknesses. This enables to formulate the new approach to political economy of oil with a special emphasis on geo-economics. This thesis seeks to answer two main research questions: 1) "Under which conditions do oil exporters consolidate their energy sector?" and 1) "What is the reason for engagement of foreign powers in the oil regions?" This thesis examines relations between exporters from the Persian Gulf and the United States. Interdependence theory is tested by a calculation of symmetry or asymmetry in interdependent relationship between importers and exporters, which is done by a comparison of...
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The current analysis is discussing the paramount role of the Mediterranean Sea within the contemporary global maritime transport system. Additionally, it provides an evaluation of the geopolitical importance of its South-eastern part in relation to Europe’s energy supply routes. Through the specific region and of course via the Aegean Sea, very large quantities of oil that start their journey in the Black Sea (Russia) and/or the Persian Gulf are delivered to a rather extended number of European countries. In the light of energy rivalries and possible forms of co-operation among the respective regional and international actors, relevant issues of maritime delimitation among the neighbouring countries acquire an extremely important security dimension. The analysis puts forward the argument that resolving these maritime delimitation issues of the area under discussion, by keeping in line with the requirements of international law and especially the United Nations Convention on the Law Of the Sea (UNCLOS), will positively impact on the freedom of navigation and associated maritime transport schemes. Overcoming the obstacles and settling these issues will also render Europe capable of utilising the energy reserves available within the specific region for the purpose of diversifying its (energy) supply sources. In this context, Greece, by taking advantage of its geographic location and its shipping capacity, has the potential to transform into an extremely important hub for Europe's trade and energy supply.
Geographic diversification of energy supplies has been one of the reactions seen in some industrialized countries. US constructed an oil pipeline from Alaska, and under Regan shifted emphasis on developing a military deterrent capability in the Arab Gulf, thereby increasing arms shipments and military support in the area over the last 20 years. Germany made a natural gas pipeline agreement with the Soviet Union, fully disregarding the possible political tensions in the US-German relations, resulting from such a decision. Apart from macroeconomic measures, fiscal and monetary, undertaken at national level to counter the energy crisis impact on their economies, a number of industrialized countries turned to geographic diversification and a number of other measures, including the move away from bilateral energy supply agreements to multilateral ones. The industrialised countries though, in the 30 years period after the first oil crisis, realized that the major problem lies in their dependency on oil. Despite measures to decelerate oil demand in OECD countries, the World globalised economy appeared helpless appears still dependent on it. New alternative sources of oil, are constantly of interest.
A methodology to improve the assessment of vulnerability on the maritime supply chain of energy
OCEANS 2015 - MTS/IEEE Washington, 2015
the globalization of trade is due to the transportation possibilities and the standardization (containerization of freight). The dependency of the economy to the sea and to the merchant navy has increase this last decade. This process forms a worldwide maritime network between the different locations of production and consumption. This network, representing between 80 % and 90% of world traffic is a major economic concern, including freight distribution, raw materials or energy. Rodrigue demonstrates[1] the economic dependency of energy is increasing in the industrialized countries (North America, Europe, East Asia). The interregional trade of oil was 31 million bbl/day in 2002 and is expected to grow up to 57 bbl/day in 2030 [2]. Most of the international traffic use a maritime way, where may occur disruptions. For example, the Suez crisis (1956-1957) caused a closure of the canal, reducing the throughput capacity of transportation. This disruption cost a 2 millions of barrels lost per day. This article focuses on vulnerability of the energy supply, and proposes a methodology to formalize and assess the vulnerability of the network by taking into account the spatial structure of maritime territories.
Oil Pipelines: Eurasian geopolitical reconfiguration
Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2021
The Caspian Sea is an important source of oil for the world, particularly Europe. However, the landlocked area was surrounded by neighbors who were commercial rivals and possessed major regional access routes. Examination of Eurasian oil pipelines evidences two large regions: Northern European and Mediterranean European systems involved in competition and collaboration in close quarters with competition and confrontation to reach the European markets from the Caspian Sea sources. With the demise of the Soviet Union, and driven by EU and US interests, as well as counting on their support, the Caspian region broke the Russian oil monopoly in less than a decade.