What is the value of saving a barrel of oil that would otherwise had been consumed domestically? This study explores the question, taking a long-run perspective into a general equilibrium approach. In the case of Saudi Arabia, the difference between the domestic price of oil and the international price represents an opportunity to improve economic efficiency across different activities and sectors. In this context, we study different policies aimed to reduce the domestic consumption of oil.
Authors
Jorge Blazquez
Former Research FellowJorge is a former research fellow specializing in energy and economics, with research interests in energy and macroeconomics, energy policies…Jorge is a former research fellow specializing in energy and economics, with research interests in energy and macroeconomics, energy policies and transitions.
Visiting ResearcherBaltasar is an associate professor of economics at the University of Vigo and has been a visiting researcher at KAPSARC…Baltasar is an associate professor of economics at the University of Vigo and has been a visiting researcher at KAPSARC since 2014. From 2005 to 2009, he served as an economic advisor to the president of Galicia. Baltasar has a Ph.D. in economics from the Universidad Complutense, Madrid and has published extensively in academic journals, mainly focusing on the intersection of macroeconomics and energy.
Acting Vice President/ Program DirectorAxel Pierru received his Ph.D. in economics from University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne (France). He also holds an HDR degree, which…Axel Pierru received his Ph.D. in economics from University Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne (France). He also holds an HDR degree, which is a French accreditation to supervise research. In 2007, Dr. Pierru was appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (knighthood award in the academic field) by the French Ministry for National Education.
In 2011 Dr. Pierru joined KAPSARC in Saudi Arabia, after spending 15 years at IFP Energies Nouvelles (France) where he led research, consulting and training projects and taught energy economics and finance to postgraduate students.
Dr. Pierru has served in various leadership positions at KAPSARC, including as interim Vice President for Research. Since 2014 he has been a program director, and currently he leads the Energy Macro & Micro-economics Program. He is also Acting Vice President, Knowledge & Analysis.
He undertakes applied research that combines methodological innovation with practical relevance for policymaking. His expertise covers oil market and pricing, energy economics, policy, finance and modeling, and oil-exporting economies.
Dr. Pierru has a proven track record of methodological innovations with 50 journal papers to his name. He has been a key contributor to the development of novel lines of research, such as the role of OPEC in stabilizing the oil market, the economic modeling of price controls, or the evaluation of investment projects by international oil companies facing various tax systems.
He also coauthored with Denis Babusiaux the book Corporate Investment Decisions and Economic Analysis: Exercises and Case Studies (2005), which is the fruit of years of teaching, consulting and research, and contains numerous examples from the oil and gas sector.
Saudi Arabia’s economy is passing through a phase of transformation in which some resources will be freed from existing usages and allocated to new development opportunities. Making decisions based on the wrong opportunity costs or value of these resources could lead to over- or under-investment in projects. In particular, the international oil price may not […]