Resources Archive

Earlier this year, a significant fact went largely unnoticed in the media: Crude oil imports from sub-Saharan Africa (excluding the Arab North African producers of Algeria and Libya) to the United States surpassed those from the Middle East. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the United States imported 1.736 million barrels per day (b/d) from Sub-Saharan Africa in February 2007 — the bulk from Nigeria and Angola but also from Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. This amount was slightly greater than imports from the Middle East — Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and a small […]

U.S.-Iran relations have been growing more tense as the standoff over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program continues, prompting speculation about the significance of the “oil factor” in Iran’s domestic politics and in its relationship with the outside world. Is Iran importing gasoline because it is running out of oil? Do the fuel riots in Iran earlier this year mean that sanctions against Iran are working? Would Iran use the oil weapon? Can the oil weapon be used against Iran? These questions are crucial, but attempts to answer them have often been misleading and characterized by hyperbole. But putting the oil […]

If Myanmar’s military leaders appear immune to internal pressure for change, and if they care little about the protestations of the “international community” unless such pressure can directly effect their interests, the two rising world powers on Myanmar’s borders perhaps hold the last hope for influencing the junta. The conventional wisdom says that even if China is ultimately unwilling to play a positive role, India can be counted on. “I think India would be able to exercise influence on Myanmar. China needs natural resources so badly that it may not be willing to call for the use of force. As […]

According to statements made Sept. 27 by the Turkish Minister of Energy Hilmi Güler, Ankara and Tehran plan to sign an accord this month on the exploitation of the natural gas reserves of South Pars on the southern Iranian coast. In a preliminary agreement concluded in July, it had already been agreed that Turkey’s state-controlled oil company would invest some $3 billion over seven years in the construction of operating equipment. In addition, Turkish and Iranian enterprises are supposed to develop joint ventures for the transport of the gas by way of a pipeline system that will extend to eastern […]

UNITED NATIONS, New York — A U.N.-sponsored summit last week on climate change laid the groundwork for further unified global action on limiting greenhouse gasses, but a separate meeting organized by the Bush administration rolled out a unilateral agenda that did little more than widen the gap between the United States and other countries. First came Monday’s summit, convened by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations, and attended by numerous world leaders and heads of government. The gathering was a prelude to the U.N. conference on climate change in Bali in December, which the world organization hopes will […]