Publications

The Value of Storage in Electricity Generation: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review

Amro Elshurafa

Electricity storage technology has many useful applications in the energy sector and can complement variable renewable power generation to achieve a low-carbon future. For policymakers, utilities, and investors, effective decisions in this context require an understanding of how to determine the monetary value of storage.

Elshurafa, Amro

Unlocking the Asian Market for Canadian Oil Producers

Malik Selemankhel

On Friday, September 23, 2020, United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump gave the green light to a 2,570 kilometer (km) rail link proposed by the private company Alberta to Alaska (A2A). According to A2A, the rail link will be able…

Selemankhel, Malik

The Path Toward a Hydrogen Economy: How Industry Can Broaden the Use of Hydrogen

In the past couple of years, it became evident that hydrogen would need to play a pivotal role in a carbon-free energy system. It would help decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors and act as an energy carrier to manage large variability in…

World’s First Blue Ammonia Shipment Signals Prospective New Low-Carbon Energy Trade for Saudi Arabia

Rami Shabaneh, Majed A. Al Suwailem, Jitendra Roychoudhury

On September 27, 2020, Saudi Aramco successfully exported the world’s first shipment of carbon-neutral ammonia to Japan, helping to fuel the nascent Japanese hydrogen economy. This pilot shipment of 40 tonnes is an important realization of the hydrogen economy for…

Shabaneh, Rami

Al Suwailem, Majed A.

Roychoudhury, Jitendra

Energy Price Reform in Saudi Arabia: Modeling the Economic and Environmental Impacts and Understanding the Demand Response

Science Direct

Saudi Arabia has regulated domestic energy prices for decades, setting them below international market levels. Energy subsidies in Saudi Arabia are generally implicit because they lead to foregone revenues for the government. Low energy prices also encourage rapid energy demand…

Mohammad Aldubyan, Anwar Gasim

Distribution Networks Tariff Design in the Era of Decentralization: A Business Model Approach

Rolando Fuentes

In this paper we discuss the unexplored two-way relationship between distribution network tariff design and the emergence of new business models in the power sector. Distribution network tariffs have traditionally used a cost accounting method. We suggest, instead, the use…

Fuentes, Rolando

Energy Security and Portfolio Diversification: The Exporter’s Perspective

Philipp Galkin, Carlo Andrea Bollino

Despite the increasing attention paid to energy security and the continuously broadening scope of the field, the perspective of energy importing countries (i.e., supply security) has overshadowed that of exporters, who seek to ensure demand security. As official statements and…

Galkin, Philipp

Bollino, Carlo Andrea

Opportunities for Natural Gas Trade and Infrastructure in the GCC

Despite the common interests, markets, and economic policies among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, their energy cooperation has been modest. GCC countries hold 20% of the world’s gas reserves. The Dolphin gas pipeline, connecting Qatar to the United Arab Emirates…

Gasoline Demand Elasticities at the Backdrop of Lower Oil Prices: Fuel-Subsidzing Country Case

MDPI

This study investigates the income and price elasticities of gasoline demand for a fuel subsidizing country case, applying three different time-varying coefficient approaches to the data spanning the period from January 2002 to June 2018. The empirical estimations concluded a…

Jeyhun Mikayilov, Shahriyar Mukhtarov, Jeyhun Mammadov

KAPSARC Oil Market Outlook

The global oil market moved into deficit in the third quarter of this year and is expected to remain in deficit during the next eight quarters. We expect the deficit to range between 3.4 – 0.1 million barrels per day…

Oman’s Shift to a Post-Oil Economy

Springer

Oman’s economy has grown dramatically since 1970. Until recently, however, Oman’s economic progress has been largely driven by the wealth generated from oil export revenues. Despite historical attempts to diversify the economy away from oil, the state budget has remained…

Aisha Al-Sarihi

Why Should Saudi Arabia Diversify Its Economy?

Fateh Belaïd, Shekoofeh Farahmand, Nathalie Hilmi

Climate change is a global issue. According to an IPCC special report (IPCC, Global warming of 1.5 °C. An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission…

Belaïd, Fateh

Shekoofeh Farahmand

Nathalie Hilmi

Early Estimates of the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on GDP: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Taylor & Francis Online

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected economic sectors in a very heterogeneous way. In the early stages of the economic lockdown, only limited economic data, if any, related to the event were available. With the government’s discretionary measures to contain the…

David Havrlant, Abdulelah Darandary, Abdelrahman Muhsen

China’s Green Freight Policy

Shuxue Chen, Xun Xu

In September 2019, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), together with the Ministry of National Resources, the Ministry of Transport, the National Railway Administration, and the State Railway Group, issued the policy announcement, “Guiding opinions on accelerating the development…

Shuxue Chen

Xu, Xun

Saudi Electricity Demand Drops for the First Time on Record

Salaheddine Soummane

Since 1990, Saudi Arabia’s electricity consumption has risen rapidly and consistently, at an average rate of around 6% per year. This growth rate is considerably high when compared with the global average growth rate of 3% and 4.8% in developed…

Soummane, Salaheddine

Can Cooperation Enhance Natural Gas Utilization in the GCC?

Rami Shabaneh, Bertrand Rioux, Steve Griffiths

The last decade saw dramatic changes in the energy sector, including the shale oil and gas boom in the United States (U.S.), a commodity down-cycle, and heightened awareness of the global climate challenge. In response, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)…

Shabaneh, Rami

Rioux, Bertrand

Griffiths, Steve

Fiscal Multipliers for Saudi Arabia Revisited

H.E. Dr. Majid Al Moneef, Fakhri Hasanov

Fiscal policy lies at the heart of key macroeconomic and budgetary decisions and is central to understanding the dynamics of oil rich economies. Fiscal multipliers, including spending multipliers, indicate how changes to fiscal policy can stimulate economic growth, to what…

H.E. Dr. Majid Al Moneef

Hasanov, Fakhri

Electricity Sector Liberalization in Egypt: Features, Challenges and Opportunities for Market Integration

Shahid Hasan, Turki Alaqeel, Hafez El-Salmawy

KAPSARC has initiated a research project to develop insights that can facilitate the establishment of a well-functioning integrated electricity market comprising the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). It aims to assess the key issues affecting electricity market…

Hasan, Shahid

Alaqeel, Turki

Hafez El-Salmawy

Natural Gas Utilization in GCC Countries

Majed A. Al Suwailem, Abdullah Aldayel

Between 2009 and 2019, marketed gas production by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members has grown at an average rate of 4.8% per annum, from 265 billion standard cubic meters in 2009 to 422 billion standard cubic meters (Bscm) in 2019.…

Al Suwailem, Majed A.

Aldayel, Abdullah

Supply-side Climate Policy for Crude Oil Producers

Paul Zakkour, Wolfgang Heidug

This paper considers the potential for supply-side climate policy to increase climate action, with a focus on crude oil producers and exporting countries. To date, supply-side policies have not been widely used in efforts to tackle climate change, and the…

Zakkour, Paul

Heidug, Wolfgang