Blog Post
COVID-19 is causing the collapse of oil markets: when will they recover?
This oil crisis will be solved only by a pick-up in global oil demand, once lockdowns are lifted and the economy is restarted.
Blog Post
This oil crisis will be solved only by a pick-up in global oil demand, once lockdowns are lifted and the economy is restarted.
Blog Post
In the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic, the sharp collapse in the oil price has received little attention. Brent fell by 30% on 9 March, the largest fall since the 1991 Gulf War. The Russian ruble followed suit and its tumble highlights Russia’s continued dependence on resource extraction. The episode should be taken as a sign of things to come in a world where Russia’s main customers are going green.
Podcast
Last Friday, Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ QUDS force, was killed by an American airstrike outside Baghdad airport. The Ayatollah was not pleased and Tehran has promised to retaliate. At the time of recording, the world is still waiting to see how Iran might respond. Some of have speculated that they could disrupt the world’s oil markets by closing the Strait of Hormuz, which acts as a vital artery for around a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost a quarter of the world’s oil. Today, oil prices surpassed $70 and if tension escalates the price is bound to grow. How dependent is the global economy on affordable Middle Eastern fossil fuel? This week, Nicholas Barrett is joined by Maria Demertzis and Niclas Poitiers to discuss how the US-Iran hostilities are affecting global economy.
Policy Contribution
Concern is growing in the European Union that a rapprochement between Russia and China could have negative implications for the EU.
Opinion
Simone Tagliapietra's latest opinion on the Financial Times, on the role of Middle East as cornerstones of global energy
External Publication
Endowed with half of the world's known oil and gas reserves, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is cornerstone of the global energy architecture. This article argues that – together with the pressing need to create jobs opportunities for a large and youthful population – the possibility of the world moving more aggressively towards a low-carbon future should represent a key argument for the implementation of economic reform programmes.
Podcast
Bruegel fellow Simone Tagliapietra speaks to Sean Gibson in this instalment of 'The Sound of Economics', on the matter of the European energy transition and how the EU should proceed in the new institutional cycle.
Opinion
Energy has traditionally played an important role in global geopolitics, contributing to the rise of great powers, the formation of alliances and, in many cases, also to the emergence of wars and conflicts. Every international order in modern history has been based on an energy resource. This piece discusses how the ongoing low-carbon energy transformation could reshape global geopolitics in the future.
Blog Post
There is a strong case for an oil benchmark in euros. Trading energy markets in more than one currency is not unprecedented, and indeed used to be the norm. Europe – with its powerful currency and reliable regulatory environment – should stand a good chance of success.
External Publication
Simone Tagliapietra contributed to the IEMED Mediterranean Yearbook 2018 with a chapter on the impact of decarbonisation policies on oil and gas producing countries in the MENA region.
Blog Post
Morocco is an interesting case of structural labour market disequilibrium despite respectable growth, and illustrates the issues facing the region’s oil-importer countries.
Blog Post
Energy is a vital part of the EU’s increasingly strained relationship with Turkey. It’s also one of the areas where there is still a lot of potential to find positive synergies. However, the EU’s strategy is too focussed on oil and gas. We need a broader and more sustainable approach to EU-Turkey energy relations.
