Publications

Behavioral Analysis on Developing a GCC Power Market

Nourah Al Hosain

In 2011, the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) completed the construction of a regional power grid connecting the Gulf states. Its main purpose was to provide backup in case of power emergencies. The grid also increases the likelihood of…

Al Hosain, Nourah

Political Feasibility of Enhancing India’s Midcentury Target for Emissions Intensity

AlJawhara Al Quayid, Nourah Al Hosain, Yagyavalk Bhatt, Paul Mollet

India’s greenhouse gas emissions have grown along with its rapid economic growth, making it the world’s third-largest emitter after China and the United States. Under the Paris Agreement, India has committed to reduce its emissions intensity relative to its GDP…

Al Quayid, AlJawhara

Al Hosain, Nourah

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

Mollet, Paul

India’s Increasing Imports of Crude Oil

Yagyavalk Bhatt

Surging global benchmark crude oil rates, tied with a depreciating Indian rupee against the United States dollar (US$) and India’s increasing dependence on crude oil imports, are likely to push India’s crude oil import bill higher. This insight sheds light…

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

An Improved Understanding of The Balance of System Costs Can Improve The Economics of Solar PV Projects

Amro Elshurafa, Nawaz Peerbocus

Much of the discussion around the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation has focused on the costs of PV modules that convert sunlight to electricity. The overall capital cost of a PV system consists of two components: the cost of…

Elshurafa, Amro

Peerbocus, Nawaz

Estimating the Household Consumption Function in Saudi Arabia: An Error Correction Approach

Taylor & Francis Online

We estimate a micro-founded life-cycle consumption model for Saudi Arabia over the period 1970–2017 using error correction model procedures. Dynamic adjustments are significant, and both income and wealth are found to have significant effects, with a long-run marginal propensity to…

Goblan Al Gahtani, Carlo Andrea Bollino, Simona Bigerna, Axel Pierru

Temperature Trends Across Cities in Saudi Arabia

Turki Alaqeel, Nawaz Peerbocus

KAPSARC examined temperature data for 11 cities spread across Saudi Arabia over 10 years. Except for Makkah, all cities in Saudi Arabia were warmer in 2018 compared with the national 10-year average. 

Alaqeel, Turki

Peerbocus, Nawaz

The Challenges in Measuring Global Oil Production

Timely and accurate oil production data is critical for understanding both the short-term oil market and for global energy balances. In the absence of reliable official data from many key oil producing countries, oil market analysts rely on a range…

US Rolls Back Regulation but the Oil Industry Moves Forward

Paul Mollet

On August 28, 2019, the United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a series of amendments to Obama-era environmental regulations covering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that it claims will save the oil and gas industry millions of dollars in…

Mollet, Paul

An overview of key evolutions in the light-duty vehicle sector and their impact on oil demand

Springer

The light-duty vehicle (LDV) sector is undergoing many changes, including technological advancements (e.g., vehicle electrification, automation), new business models (e.g., ride-hailing), and government regulations and policies (e.g., fuel economy (FE) standards, zero-emission vehicle mandates, infrastructure investments, and incentives to encourage…

Mohammed Albrahim, Ahmed Al Zahrani, Anvita Arora, Rubal Dua, Bassam Fattouh, Adam Sieminski

Aramco and Reliance: Alliance Between Giants

Kaushik Deb

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) announced at its 42nd annual general meeting that it had signed a letter of intent to sell a 20% stake in RIL’s chemicals, refining and fuel marketing (oil-to-chemicals [O2C]) business to Saudi Aramco in a…

Deb, Kaushik

Assessing Energy Policy Instruments: LNG Imports Into Saudi Arabia

Rami Shabaneh, Maxime Schenckery

Natural gas is already playing a prominent role in diversifying Saudi Arabia’s power mix away from a heavy reliance on oil-based fuels. Between 2010 and 2017, the share of natural gas used in power generation in Saudi Arabia grew from…

Shabaneh, Rami

Schenckery, Maxime

Is the Time Ripe for Private Investment in Interconnections in the MENA Region?

Shahid Hasan

Efforts to integrate power systems and markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are gaining momentum. With rapidly growing regional electricity demand, the development of an integrated electricity market…

Hasan, Shahid

Solar PV on mosque rooftops: Results from a pilot study in Saudi Arabia

Science Direct

Amro Elshurafa, Abdullah Alsubaie, Ayman Alabduljabbar, Shafi Al-Hsaien

Gasoline Price Reform in Saudi Arabia

Anwar Gasim, Mohammad Aldubyan

Saudi Arabia has been adjusting gasoline prices on a quarterly basis since the start of 2019, with the most recent adjustment occurring on July 14, 2019. These adjustments depend on changes in international oil prices, and are smaller than the…

Gasim, Anwar

Aldubyan, Mohammad

KAPSARC’s Contribution to Evaluating the Impact of Price Controls

Axel Pierru, Walid Matar

The European Journal of Operational Research has just published a paper, “Measuring the effects of price controls using mixed complementarity models” (2019). It detailed a series of innovative modeling approaches developed by KAPSARC researchers over the last six years. The…

Pierru, Axel

Matar, Walid

Finding a Viable Path to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Keigo Akimoto, Jun Arima, Mustafa Babiker, Mark Caine, David Hobbs, Eija-Riitta Korhola, Adam Sieminski, Nico Stehr, Hiroyuki Tezuka, Masakazu Toyoda, Eric Williams

A viable, least-cost pathway to a low greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions future must lie within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. The rulebook for the Agreement was in many ways rewritten at the 2018 United…

Keigo Akimoto

Jun Arima

Babiker, Mustafa

Mark Caine

Hobbs, David

Eija-Riitta Korhola

Adam Sieminski

Nico Stehr

Hiroyuki Tezuka

Masakazu Toyoda

Williams, Eric

Techno-Economics of Solar PV on Mosque Rooftops: Results from a Pilot Study in Saudi Arabia

Amro Elshurafa, Abdullah Alsubaie, Ayman Alabduljabbar, Shafi Al-Hsaien

There are an estimated 3.5 million mosques worldwide. The relatively large surface area of most mosque rooftops and their ubiquity in the Muslim world make them excellent candidates for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. Muslims congregate for prayers at mosques five…

Elshurafa, Amro

Alsubaie, Abdullah

Ayman Alabduljabbar

Al-Hsaien, Shafi

The Political Feasibility of Enhancing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets in the European Union’s Mid-Century Strategy

AlJawhara Al Quayid, Saleh Al Muhanna, Paul Mollet

Article 4.19 of the 2015 Paris Agreement calls on signatories to formulate and communicate “long-term low greenhouse gas development strategies,” widely known as the mid-century strategy (MCS). Any enhancement of the European Union’s (EU’s) targets in its MCS depends on…

Al Quayid, AlJawhara

Al Muhanna, Saleh

Mollet, Paul

India’s Oil Imports: Achilles’ Heel or Economic Javelin?

Yagyavalk Bhatt, Paul Mollet, Jitendra Roychoudhury

Presenting India’s 2019 budget on July 5, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman sketched out the Modi government’s vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024, almost doubling the country’s current gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.73 trillion. To achieve this…

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

Mollet, Paul

Roychoudhury, Jitendra

How does Saudi Arabia’s recent energy performance compare with other G20 countries?

Baltasar Manzano, Rolando Fuentes, Nicholas Howarth

The 68th annual edition of the BP Statistical Review, released recently, is a comprehensive account and analysis of global energy data. Saudi Arabia will be hosting the G20 summit in 2020, and the release of BP’s annual compilation provides a good opportunity…

Manzano, Baltasar

Fuentes, Rolando

Howarth, Nicholas