About
Dr. W. David Soud is Head of Research and Analysis at I.R. Consilium, a family-owned consulting firm in Maryland, USA that specializes in issues of maritime security, resource security, and strategy. In that role, he has become a leading expert on illicit supply chains and the criminal exploitation of extractives, including oil and refined products. His work on phantom oil includes contributing to a groundbreaking series of reports on Downstream Oil Theft for the Atlantic Council as well as his work with KAPSARC. Dr. Soud is also known worldwide for his expertise in illicit flows of other resources, including gold. He collaborates with think tanks, governments, international organizations, law enforcement and security agencies, and diplomatic corps around the world, and with partners and clients from both civil society and the private sector. Dr. Soud also serves as Head of Resource Responsibility for the charitable nonprofit Auxilium Worldwide, which undertakes projects to support good and just governance, advance sustainable development, enhance environmental stewardship, aid in human security around the world, and serve as an auxiliary to those working for the betterment of humanity. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford.
Publications
07 January 2025
No Magic Bullet The Challenge of Security Interventions in Phantom Oil FlowsThe discovery and exploitation of oil and gas significantly transformed the global economy and social welfare landscape. Oil, in particular, became the lifeblood of industrialization, fueling the growth of numerous sectors, including transportation, manufacturing, and electricity gen...
23 May 2024
The New Oil Market Multiverse: Physical Commodity Swaps as Instruments for Circumventing Sanctions and Their Implications for the Global EconomyFrom the global pandemic to the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the past few years have witnessed a reordering of global trade flows, most dramatically in the energy sector. Less obviously, these shifts have also precipitated an emerging trend toward alte...
11 February 2025
Energy Peacekeeping: The Role of Effectivités as a Viable, Legal Instrument in Addressing Shared or Disputed Offshore Oil and Gas FieldsAs more offshore oil and gas discoveries, some of them dramatic, take place in areas where maritime boundaries can be disputed, effectivités have become key considerations in resolving some of the resulting conflicts. A basic understanding of the theory of effectivités is therefore v...
