• Focus Area Regional Energy Markets Regional Energy Markets
  • Type Discussion paper
  • Date 4 October 2018
Print

Abstract

Countries in the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, commonly known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), established a regional power grid to support member countries’ high voltage networks in 2001 but, to date, the system has remained underutilized. The intended purpose of the grid was to provide backup electricity during emergencies caused by power system outages, especially during the summer, and to share spinning reserves, optimize capital investments in electricity and reduce fuel costs. The grid has been fully operational since 2011 and has satisfied its intended purpose. However, GCC member states have largely failed to take advantage of options associated with the grid to trade electricity. This paper uses the KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis platform, a model of collective decision-making processes developed at KAPSARC, to examine the political feasibility of expanding the utilization of the GCC grid to include trading electricity.

Authors

Paul Mollet

Paul Mollet

Research Fellow Paul was a research fellow in the Policy and Decision Sciences program. He is a former journalist and energy market… Paul was a research fellow in the Policy and Decision Sciences program. He is a former journalist and energy market analyst with over 25 years of experience in international energy markets. He opened the first Gulf Cooperation Council bureau for the oil price reporting agency S&P Global Platts in Dubai in 1989 and later launched the first regional office for Argus Media. Paul has attended numerous OPEC meetings and written extensively about the oil industry in publications such as Platts Oilgram News, Argus Global Markets, and the Petroleum Economist. He was also the senior advisor to the Secretary-General at the World Energy Council (WEC).    

Imtenan Al-Mubarak

Project Planning and Management Director Imtenan Al-Mubarak is a Project Planning and Management director. She was previously a research fellow at KAPSARC, focusing on policy… Imtenan Al-Mubarak is a Project Planning and Management director. She was previously a research fellow at KAPSARC, focusing on policy research with an emphasis on data science and machine learning. Before joining KAPSARC, Imtenan worked at several companies in Chicago, and at Electronia in Dammam and Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. She holds a master’s degree with distinction from DePaul University, Chicago, for which she was awarded the Golden Key International Honor. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a member of several professional organizations. She is a Future Energy Leader at the World Energy Council in London and a board member at a non-profit organization in San Francisco. She also holds a patent in the United States (issued November 8, 2016).

Expertise

  • تحليل السلوك، دور نظرية الالعاب في الاقتصاد الحديث، نمذجة المساومات، المحتوي الرقمي، علوم الجيوسياسية و سياسات الطاقة والاقتصاد في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي بالاضافة إلى ادارة التحول واستراتيجيات التواصل

Publications See all Imtenan Al-Mubarak’s publications

Brian Efird

Brian Efird

Director of Strategic Partnerships Brian Efird is the Director for Strategic Partnerships at KAPSARC. His responsibilities include planning and oversight of KAPSARC’s global outreach… Brian Efird is the Director for Strategic Partnerships at KAPSARC. His responsibilities include planning and oversight of KAPSARC’s global outreach and engagement, as well as forging multiparty collaborations that conceptualize and facilitate high impact, applied research projects in the areas of energy economics, policy, and sustainability. He previously served as the Program Director for Policy and Decision Science, managing a team of researchers that covered a global program of work focused on the nexus between geopolitics, domestic and local politics, energy, and climate change. This included multi-disciplinary analysis of the geopolitics of energy and the environment, quantitative models of collective decision-making processes (CDMPs), geospatial information system (GIS) applications to energy economics and energy policy, and the impact of political phenomena on global energy markets. Dr. Efird was previously a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.; a consultant on defense and international security matters in Washington; and a consultant applying quantitative models to support corporate, investment banking, and legal negotiations in New York. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science and M.A. in International Studies from Claremont Graduate University.

Saleh Al Muhanna

Saleh Al Muhanna

Former Research Associate Saleh was a Research Associate in the Policy and Decision Science program. His interests lie in geopolitical research, international agreements… Saleh was a Research Associate in the Policy and Decision Science program. His interests lie in geopolitical research, international agreements and international trade. Saleh holds a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University and a B.S. degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Omar Al-Ubayli

Omar Al-Ubayli

External Author Omar is the program director of Economics and Energy Studies at the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies… Omar is the program director of Economics and Energy Studies at the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat)

Share this Publication

Related publications

See all publications

Related workshops

See all workshops
28
29 Nov

Models of CDMP for Energy Policy and Energy Markets

This second KAPSARC Toolkit for Behavioral Analysis (KTAB) Users’ Group meeting will bring together experienced as well as new users of KTAB to discuss the modeling approach, software architecture, new directions, and real world, policy-relevant applications. The participants will include a mixture of academics, applied researchers, analysts, and government officials. We will discuss both how […]

Stay informed

 I'm interested in

Select the updates you'd like to receive from us

About

A bit about you