The New Oil Market Multiverse: Physical Commodity Swaps as Instruments for Circumventing Sanctions and Their Implications for the Global Economy

From 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 alternative forms of commerce operating outside the customary channels of the global financial system. Such alternatives include local currency settlements and physical commodity swaps. Although such instruments are nothing new, their use by state actors as a way to circumvent both sanctions and the dominance of the U.S. dollar has implications that warrant careful study.

Majed A. Al Suwailem

Research Fellow Majed is a Research Fellow at KAPSARC with a focus on energy security, geopolitics, and hydrocarbon laws and regulations. He…

Majed is a Research Fellow at KAPSARC with a focus on energy security, geopolitics, and hydrocarbon laws and regulations. He has more than 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in the fields of simulation and modeling, asset management, reserves estimation, oil field development, disruptive technologies, and business planning, gained at Chevron and Saudi Aramco.

Majed holds a B.S. degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in the United States, along with two M.S. degrees in petroleum engineering, and reservoir geosciences and engineering, respectively, from Texas A&M University and the Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP School). In 2021, Majed earned his Master of Science degree in public economics and policy from Purdue University.

Expertise

Energy Security
Geopolitics
Hydrocarbon Laws and Regulations

Publications See all Majed A. Al Suwailem’s publications