This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2024)
An energy superpower is a country that supplies large amounts of energy resources (crude oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) to a significant number of other countries - and therefore has the potential to influence world markets for political or economic gains. Energy superpower status might be exercised, for example, by significantly influencing the price on global markets or by withholding supplies. Nowadays,[when?] the term "energy superpower" is increasingly used to characterize nations at the forefront of energy transition and the development of renewable energy resources.[1][2][3]
The term "energy superpower" lacks a precise scholarly definition and is primarily a political term. It is not a concept rooted in rigorous academic or scientific categorization but rather a label used in political discourse to describe countries that wield significant influence in the global energy landscape. This term is subject to interpretation;and can be applied differently by individuals and organizations - depending on their specific agenda or perspectives. As a result, the meaning and applicability of the term "energy superpower" may vary.
Countries dependent on Russian natural gas for domestic consumption (2006)
The discourses surrounding Russia's energy wealth play a crucial role in Vladimir Putin's attempts to restore Russia's great power status. Some scholars have noted that, although Putin may avoid explicitly using the term "superpower," the idea of Russia as an energy superpower is an integral part of the ideology developed by his regime.[13][14][15] This idea emphasizes Russia's significant role in the global energy landscape and frames it as a key player in international politics. However, Russia's status of energy superpower and the strategic implications it carries have been called into question by many experts. As Vladimir Milov, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says:
The "energy superpower" concept is an illusion with no basis in reality. Perhaps most dangerously, it doesn’t recognize the mutual dependence between Russia and energy consumers. Because of political conflicts and declining production, future supply disruptions to Europe are likely. As a result, European gas companies may likely someday demand elimination of the take-or-pay conditions in their Russian contracts. This would threaten Gazprom’s ability to borrow. Putin’s attempt to use energy to increase Russian influence could backfire in the long run.[16]
In the mid-2010s, former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, asserted that Canada should be considered an energy superpower. By advertising Canada as an oil supplier on the international level, Harper defined it as a “reliable producer in a volatile unpredictable world” who can offer its oil-thirsty partners “a transparent regulatory system and a commitment to open markets”.[17] This viewpoint found support among conservative political activists and public intellectuals, such as Ezra Levant, the author of Ethical Oil (2011). However, scholars,[18][19][20][21]Indigenous peoples' organisations and activists,[22] and environmental activists, including such prominent Canadian environmentalists as Andrew Nikiforuk[23] and David Suzuki,[24][25] contested representations of Canada as an energy superpower. These critics raised concerns about the environmental footprint of Canada's oil sands (e.g., tailing ponds, air pollution and deforestation) in the context of climate change, as well as socio-economic factors such as the potential repercussions on local communities, the equitable distribution of economic benefits, and the overall social implications of prioritizing the oil industry.
Iran
Iran is widely regarded as an energy superpower due to its immense natural resources, including some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 157 billion barrels, and the second-largest reserves of natural gas. Its South Pars gas field, one of the largest in the world, underscores the country’s pivotal role in global energy markets. Despite facing sanctions Iran’s energy infrastructure remains robust, and the country has significant potential to boost oil and gas production and exports. With its strategic location in the Middle East, Iran is well-positioned to become a key energy player, not just regionally but globally, offering a vital supply of energy to neighboring countries and beyond.[26][27][28][29]
Venezuela
In the 2000s, Venezuela was widely described as a new energy superpower. For example, Manik Talwani, a geophysicist at Rice University, argued in 2007 that Venezuela will likely to join Saudi Arabia in attaining the status of energy superpower.[10] Citing its enormous potential reserves (1.2 trillion potential barrels), Talwani claimed that Venezuela will become an energy superpower in the next few decades as oil production declines elsewhere. However, Venezuela's descent into economic and political chaos has become a cautionary tale about the complexities of managing resource wealth in developing countries. The country's situation serves as a stark reminder of the challenges and potential pitfalls associated with overreliance on natural resources, particularly oil, for economic development.[30][31]
Saudi Arabia
As a leading producer and exporter of crude oil, Saudi Arabia has substantial influence over the global oil market and has been labeled as an energy superpower. The country has the capacity to produce and export significant volumes of crude oil, making it a linchpin in the global oil supply chain. Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an intergovernmental organization that plays a central role in setting oil production and pricing policies. As a leading OPEC member, Saudi Arabia has the ability to influence oil production quotas, which directly affects global oil prices.
↑ Balamir Coşkun, Bezen (Winter 2009). "Global Energy Geopolitics and Iran"(PDF). Uluslararası İlişkiler. 5 (20). International Relations Council of Turkey: 179–201. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Petroleum is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture. It consists mainly of hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The term petroleum refers both to naturally occurring unprocessed crude oil, as well as to petroleum products that consist of refined crude oil.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is a cartel enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize profit. It was founded on 14 September 1960, in Baghdad by the first five members which are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. The organization, which currently comprises 12 member countries, accounted for an estimated 30 percent of global oil production. A 2022 report further details that OPEC member countries were responsible for approximately 38 percent of it. Additionally, it is estimated that 79.5 percent of the world's proven oil reserves are located within OPEC nations, with the Middle East alone accounting for 67.2 percent of OPEC's total reserves.
Oil sands are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. They are either loose sands, or partially consolidated sandstone containing a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay, and water, soaked with bitumen.
Petrocurrency is a word used with three distinct meanings, often confused:
Dollars paid to oil-producing nations —a term invented in the 1970s meaning trading surpluses of oil-producing nations.
Currencies of oil-producing nations which tend to rise in value against other currencies when the price of oil rises.
Pricing of oil in US dollars: currencies used as a unit of account to price oil in the international market.
Peak oil is the point when global oil production reaches its maximum rate, after which it will begin to decline irreversibly. The main concern is that global transportation relies heavily on gasoline and diesel. Transitioning to electric vehicles, biofuels, or more efficient transport could help reduce oil demand.
Petroleum politics have been an increasingly important aspect of diplomacy since the rise of the petroleum industry in the Middle East in the early 20th century. As competition continues for a vital resource, the strategic calculations of major and minor countries alike place prominent emphasis on the pumping, refining, transport, sale and use of petroleum products.
The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC Reference Basket, Tapis crude, Bonny Light, Urals oil, Isthmus, and Western Canadian Select (WCS). Oil prices are determined by global supply and demand, rather than any country's domestic production level.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an intergovernmental organization currently comprising 19 Member Countries of the world's leading natural gas producers: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela are members and Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Mozambique, Malaysia, Norway, Peru and the United Arab Emirates are observers. GECF members together control over 71% of the world's natural proven gas reserves, 44% of its marketed production, 53% of the pipeline, and 57% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports across the globe. It is headquartered in Doha, Qatar.
Russia's energy policy is presented in the government's Energy Strategy document, first approved in 2000, which sets out the government's policy to 2020. The Energy Strategy outlines several key priorities: increased energy efficiency, reducing the impact on the environment, sustainable development, energy development and technological development, as well as improved effectiveness and competitiveness. Russia's greenhouse gas emissions are large because of its energy policy. Russia is rich in natural energy resources and is one of the world's energy superpowers. Russia is the world's leading net energy exporter, and was a major supplier to the European Union until the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia has signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement. Numerous scholars posit that Russia uses its energy exports as a foreign policy instrument towards other countries.
United States energy independence is the concept of eliminating or substantially reducing import of petroleum to satisfy the nation's need for energy. Some proposals for achieving energy independence would permit imports from the neighboring nations of Canada and Mexico, in which case it would be called North American energy independence. Energy independence is espoused by those who want to leave the US unaffected by global energy supply disruptions and would restrict reliance upon politically unstable states for its energy security.
The Energy in Russia is an area of the national economy, science, and technology of the Russian Federation, encompassing energy resources, production, transmission, transformation, accumulation, distribution, and consumption of various types of energy.
The nationalization of oil supplies refers to the process of confiscation of oil production operations and their property, generally for the purpose of obtaining more revenue from oil for the governments of oil-producing countries. This process, which should not be confused with restrictions on crude oil exports, represents a significant turning point in the development of oil policy. Nationalization eliminates private business operations—in which private international companies control oil resources within oil-producing countries—and transfers them to the ownership of the governments of those countries. Once these countries become the sole owners of these resources, they have to decide how to maximize the net present value of their known stock of oil in the ground. Several key implications can be observed as a result of oil nationalization. "On the home front, national oil companies are often torn between national expectations that they should 'carry the flag' and their own ambitions for commercial success, which might mean a degree of emancipation from the confines of a national agenda."
The 1980s oil glut was a significant surplus of crude oil caused by falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The world price of oil had peaked in 1980 at over US$35 per barrel ; it fell in 1986 from $27 to below $10. The glut began in the early 1980s as a result of slowed economic activity in industrial countries due to the crises of the 1970s, especially in 1973 and 1979, and the energy conservation spurred by high fuel prices. The inflation-adjusted real 2004 dollar value of oil fell from an average of $78.2 in 1981 to an average of $26.8 per barrel in 1986.
The proven oil reserves in Venezuela are recognized as the largest in the world, totaling 300 billion barrels (4.8×1010 m3) as of 1 January 2014. The 2019 edition of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy reports the total proved reserves of 303.3 billion barrels for Venezuela (slightly more than Saudi Arabia's 297.7 billion barrels).
The 2010s oil glut was a significant surplus of crude oil that started in 2014–2015 and accelerated in 2016, with multiple causes. They include general oversupply as unconventional US and Canadian tight oil production reached critical volumes, geopolitical rivalries among oil-producing nations, falling demand across commodities markets due to the deceleration of the Chinese economy, and possible restraint of long-term demand as environmental policy promotes fuel efficiency and steers an increasing share of energy consumption away from fossil fuels.
On 8 March 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated a price war on oil with Russia, which facilitated a 65% quarterly fall in the price of oil. The price war was triggered by a break-up in dialogue between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia over proposed oil-production cuts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Russia walked out of the agreement, leading to the fall of the OPEC+ alliance.
Higher energy prices pushed families into poverty, forced some factories to curtail output or even shut down, and slowed economic growth. It was estimated in 2022 that an additional 11 million Europeans could be driven to poverty due to energy inflation. Europe's gas supply is uniquely vulnerable because of its historic reliance on Russia, while many emerging economies have seen higher energy import bills and fuel shortages.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
