Publications

What Texas Tells Us About Lessening the Frequency and Severity of Electricity Blackouts?

Frank Felder, Hatem Al Atawi

On Monday, February 12, approximately three million homes and businesses in Texas lost power due to an unusual winter storm that simultaneously increased electricity demand and decreased supply. This was not the first time; Texas had a similar incident due…

Felder, Frank

Al Atawi, Hatem

China’s Belt and Road initiative: Changing Investment Priorities in Pursuit of Energy Security and Carbon Neutrality

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

Gathering momentum for the energy transition—supported by ambitious net-zero roadmaps by governments (EU, China, and US) and multinational corporations—has sparked debate on what the energy map will look like in 30 years. For more than half a century now, access…

Dongmei Chen

The Opportunity Cost of Domestic Oil Consumption For an Oil exporter: Illustration for Saudi Arabia

Science Direct

We develop a partial equilibrium framework to assess the opportunity cost of domestic oil consumption for an oil-exporting country. We show that the opportunity cost depends on various factors, including the constraints to which the oil producer is subject and…

Fatih Karanfil, Axel Pierru

Residential Energy Model for Evaluating Energy Demand and Energy Efficiency Programs in Saudi Residential Buildings

Mohammad Aldubyan, Moncef Krarti, Eric Williams

This paper describes the development of the Residential Energy Model (REEM) for Saudi Arabia using an engineering bottom-up approach. The model can assess energy demand for the current residential building stock and the impact of energy efficiency and demand-side management…

Aldubyan, Mohammad

Krarti, Moncef

Williams, Eric

The Pacifying Effect of Energy Dependence on Interstate Conflict: A Large-N Analysis

Science Direct

Osman Zeki Gökçe, Emre Hatipoglu, Mehmet Ali Soytas

The Future of the Petrochemicals Industry and Sino-Saudi Cooperation

The Covid-19 pandemic and the responses to it have had a pronounced impact on the global economy. Major consuming sectors for petrochemicals, including cars and appliances, construction and textiles, have suffered a slump in demand. The production outputs of petrochemicals…

Are Bankruptcies Healthy For The Tight Oil Sector?

Majed A. Al Suwailem, Malik Selemankhel

Between January 2015 and mid-2020, about 69 of the approximately 2,160 small-to-medium independent oil companies operating in the tight oil sector filed for Chapter 11 protection. These filings mostly occurred in 2016 and 2019. A lack of financial discipline and…

Al Suwailem, Majed A.

Selemankhel, Malik

Renewable Energy Deployment to Stimulate Energy Transition in the Gulf Cooperation Council

Yagyavalk Bhatt

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region plays a vital role in shaping the global energy markets because of its substantial amount of hydrocarbons resources. Although the GCC has abundant hydrocarbon resources, countries in the region have also shown their commitment…

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

Stated Preferences of Metro Use by Current Mode Choices in Riyadh

Ahm Mehbub Anwar, Abu Toasin Oakil

Based on the current use of mode, people show different preferences for modal shift. This Data Insight presents the most important metro options (based on fare, travel time, walking time and waiting time of the metro) as stated by the…

Anwar, Ahm Mehbub

Oakil, Abu Toasin

Understanding Latent Consumer Demand For Fuel-Efficient Vehicles

Rubal Dua

Consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) – including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and pure battery electric – is a crucial step in improving energy use and reducing emissions in the transportation sector. To promote adoption, policymakers have employed various demand- and…

Dua, Rubal

The Evolution of Gasoline Demand and Prices in Saudi Arabia

Mohammad Aldubyan

Gasoline is the primary fuel for the passenger car fleet in Saudi Arabia. The demand for passenger cars, and hence gasoline, is primarily driven by the size, geography and economic growth of the country, its domestic fuel prices, and the…

Aldubyan, Mohammad

KAPSARC Oil Market Outlook

Total global oil demand is expected to increase year-on-year (YoY) by 4.2 million barrels per day (MMb/d) in 2021 and further grow by 3.5 MMb/d in 2022, returning to 2019 levels by the third quarter (Q3) 2022. The International Monetary…

What Happened to Oil Product Demand in Saudi Arabia During the First Two Quarters of 2020?

Anwar Gasim

In this commentary, we examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the various lockdown measures on domestic oil product demand in Saudi Arabia during the first and second quarters of 2020. We explore the pandemic’s effects on six key…

Gasim, Anwar

Utility-Scale Storage: Sleeping Giant or Mirage?

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, among other countries, has ambitious plans to install a significant amount of renewable capacity by 2040. A high share of renewable generation in the power system can, however, result in grid instabilities. Energy storage technology…

Refining Value Chain Optimization Trends in the United States: The Shale Factor

Malik Selemankhel

Shale oil or light tight oil (LTO) is a sweet, less viscous crude oil, with an average API gravity range of 35º API to 55º API, and a sulfur content as low as <0.2%. After the Global Financial Crisis in…

Selemankhel, Malik

On the Incremental Investment in Residential Energy Efficiency: A Saudi Perspective

Taylor & Francis Online

This paper examines the marginal welfare gain of adopting higher energy efficiency after another efficiency measure has already been installed. For example, how does installing stringent thermal insulation influence energy efficiency investment decisions thereafter? A mathematical model that embeds a…

Walid Matar

Share of Road Transport and the Consumption of Diesel and Petrol in India

Yagyavalk Bhatt

As of 2015, India had approximately 230 million registered vehicles. Over 70% of India’s registered vehicles are two-wheelers. In 2013, India had 132.55 million registered two-wheelers and 25 million registered cars. According to India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas,…

Bhatt, Yagyavalk

Economic Structural Change and Freight Transport Demand in China

Xun Xu, Tianduo Peng

After decades of rapid economic development, China is quickly becoming the world’s second-largest transport energy consumer. Recently, it has also surpassed the United States (U.S.) as the world’s largest oil importer, and it is expected to become the largest oil…

Xu, Xun

Tianduo Peng

Can Oil Refiners Adjust to a Greater Supply of Shale Oil?

Walid Matar, Rami Shabaneh

The advent of American shale oil and its prospects for continued production growth have raised concerns about whether oil refineries can handle the increasingly lighter crude oil supply. To provide a perspective on this issue, we run a global oil…

Matar, Walid

Shabaneh, Rami

The Saudi Move into Hydrogen: A Paradigm Shift

Hatem Al Atawi, Abdulelah Darandary

Saudi Arabia is moving ahead with its diversification plan, Saudi Vision 2030, by adopting hydrogen. The Kingdom is keen to enable the circular carbon economy (CCE) by producing and utilizing clean hydrogen. On September 27, Saudi Aramco announced its first…

Al Atawi, Hatem

Darandary, Abdulelah