Publications

Modeling Industrial Energy Demand in Saudi Arabia and Understanding Its Drivers

Shahad Alarenan, Anwar Gasim, Lester C. Hunt

In 2016 Saudi Arabia’s industrial (or manufacturing) sector accounted for 30.3% of total final energy consumption (IEA 2018a). When non-energy use (mainly feedstock for the petrochemical subsector) is included, the industrial sector᾽s share of total final energy consumption rises to…

Alarenan, Shahad

Gasim, Anwar

Hunt, Lester C.

Assisting Energy Policy Instruments: LNG Imports into Saudi Arabia

Science Direct

Rami Shabaneh, Maxime Schenckery

Theoretical Framework for Industrial Electricity Consumption Revisited

Fakhri Hasanov

Policymakers should expect that the energy price reform in Saudi Arabia will reduce industrial electricity consumption. However, this reduction will be slight as the price effect is found to be very small. At the same time, policymakers should be aware…

Hasanov, Fakhri

The Geopolitics of the Energy Transition

Starting in 2017, KAPSARC and the Clingendael International Energy Program (CIEP) have convened a series of workshops on the Role of Oil in the Low Carbon Energy Transition. This workshop held on April 25th, 2019 took place in Hus Clingendael,…

Electricity Demand Growth in Saudi Arabia: Cyclical Stagnation or Structural Adaptation?

Nawaz Peerbocus

A recent International Monetary Fund report noted that in 2018, Saudi Arabia’s energy price reforms generated 41.3 billion Saudi riyals (SAR) (11 billion US$) in new non-oil revenue for the government. The power sector contributed 25% of this revenue gain…

Peerbocus, Nawaz

The ‘IPhone Effect’: The Impact of Dual Technological Disruptions on Electrification

SAGE Journals

Meeting climate change goals requires both the decarbonization of the electricity sector and the electrification of much of the rest of the economy. However, the electricity sector is navigating major disruptions that are changing the regulatory and business landscape. This…

Rolando Fuentes, Lester C. Hunt, Hector G. Lopez-Ruiz, Baltasar Manzano

A Conceptual Framework for the Integrated Studies of Energy Transformation in Smart Cities

IEEE Xplore

The benefits of smart city are enormous. But the list of challenges in their planning, development, and operation is long and difficult to overcome. Two important questions to policymakers and stakeholders: (1) What are the new energy problems in smart…

Guodong Sun

The Potential for Distributed Solar PV Systems in Riyadh

Amro Elshurafa, Abdelrahman Muhsen

The country’s regulator, the Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA) has also released provisional bylaws that will govern how distributed generation (DG) would be compensated within the Kingdom. Many governmental organizations mandated to support local industries and energy efficiency measures…

Elshurafa, Amro

Muhsen, Abdelrahman

Political Feasibility of Enhancing the Russian Emissions Reduction Target Under the Paris Agreement

Imtenan Al-Mubarak, Saleh Al Muhanna, Zlata Sergeeva

It is widely recognized that the commitments set out in the Paris Agreement fall short of achieving the 2 degrees Celsius global warming target, agreed as the central goal of the agreement and its parties. Given this, KAPSARC has set…

Al-Mubarak, Imtenan

Al Muhanna, Saleh

Sergeeva, Zlata

Growing energy demand in the GCC countries

Taylor & Francis Online

The energy sector in GCC countries plays a vital role in achieving economic and social development and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Furthermore, the energy sector plays a major role in meeting the water and food needs in…

Shahad Albardi, Imtenan Al-Mubarak

Achieving Climate Goals by Closing the Loop in a Circular Carbon Economy

Eric Williams

On October 30, the Saudi Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, announced at the Future Investment Initiative that “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia offers the concept of a circular carbon economy … Such a closed-loop system, much like what…

Williams, Eric

India’s Automotive Fuel Policies: Evolution and Challenges

Yagyavalk Bhatt, Jitendra Roychoudhury

India, like many other countries, is seeking to diversify its automotive fuel mix away from conventional petroleum fuels to alternate, cleaner fuels. The primary reasons for its diversification are energy security and public health due to harmful emissions from automotive…

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

Roychoudhury, Jitendra

Are Small Modular Reactors a Good Option for Saudi Arabia?

Noura Mansouri

Since the start of nuclear power in the 1950s, nuclear generation technology has continually transformed and developed. Following the three major nuclear accidents, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, nuclear power has become more robust, safer and more secure.

Mansouri, Noura

A Household’s Power Load Response to a Change in the Electricity Pricing Scheme: An Expanded Microeconomic-physical Approach

Research Gate

Energy economists are interested in how changes in electricity prices prompt a response in end-user electricity demand. If historical prices are low or seldom change, it becomes difficult to estimate price elasticities statistically , especially in the short-run. Thus, a…

Walid Matar

KAPSARC Oil Market Outlook

Our supply/demand forecast is an average for each period and does not take into account short term volatility. Actual changes will, of course, remain volatile amid continued geopolitical events. These challenges include sanctions, trade and technology tensions, a growing number…

Assessing Politics in Market Projections-Restarting Japanese Nuclear Reactors and Global Gas Markets

Saleh Al Muhanna, Rami Shabaneh

This paper explores the value of explicitly integrating the modeling of political concerns into a model of energy market projections. This is achieved by assessing the impact on global gas markets of political constraints on restarting Japanese nuclear reactors. The…

Al Muhanna, Saleh

Shabaneh, Rami

Can Japanese Nuclear Power Be Restarted Sooner? A Simulation of Alternative Scenarios

Saleh Al Muhanna, Imtenan Al-Mubarak, Brian Efird, Faisal Al-Ghamdi

This study assesses whether there are politically plausible paths to more quickly gain support for restarting Japanese nuclear power plants and considers alternative scenarios. It builds on the 2018 KAPSARC discussion paper, “The Policymaking Process to Restart Japanese Nuclear Power,”…

Al Muhanna, Saleh

Al-Mubarak, Imtenan

Efird, Brian

Al-Ghamdi, Faisal

The Use of Blockchain Technology in Saudi Logistics

Jitendra Roychoudhury, Pavithra Kumar Shetty

On September 21, 2019, Saudi Customs, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the Saudi Ports Authority, and the logistics firm, A.P. Moller – Maersk, jointly announced the successful completion of a blockchain pilot project tracking a shipping container from…

Roychoudhury, Jitendra

Shetty, Pavithra Kumar

A Short-Term Forecasting Model for Brent Oil Prices

Hamid M. Al Sadoon, Colin Ward, Jennifer Considine, Abdullah Aldayel

The KAPSARC Oil Market Outlook (KOMO) has been designed to provide readers with a timely source of data, forecasts and analysis of world oil markets, including an understanding of the key factors affecting world oil prices. This paper gives a…

Al Sadoon, Hamid M.

Ward, Colin

Considine, Jennifer

Aldayel, Abdullah

Electricity Sector Reforms in Abu Dhabi and Oman: What Have We Learned?

Shahid Hasan, Turki Alaqeel, Nawaz Peerbocus

Chile was the first country to reform its electricity sector. The reform program was first mooted when Chile’s National Energy Commission was established in 1978; it took off with the enactment of the country’s Electricity Sector Law in 1982. This…

Hasan, Shahid

Alaqeel, Turki

Peerbocus, Nawaz