'This report argues that unless there is a collapse in oil demand within the next five to ten years, there will be a serious oil 'supply crunch' - not because of below-ground resource constraints but because of inadequate investment by international oil companies (IOCs) and national oil companies (NOCs). An oil supply crunch is where excess crude producing capacity falls to low levels and is followed by a crude 'outage' leading to a price spike. If this happens then the resulting price spike wi more...

'This paper constructs a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model which reflects the characteristics of African economies but is general enough to imbed both oil-producing and oil-importing countries. This model is used to quantify the impact of changes in oil prices on African economies. A rise to twice the current price level would lead to:

* a fall in output by 6% in the first year for the median oil-importing country given a complete pass through of the increase in prices to the c more...

"China’s Thirst for Oil, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines China’s need for energy and assesses the impact of Beijing’s energy policies on the resolution of conflict by looking at Sudan and Iran as case studies.

China’s need for energy is growing faster than that of any other country. Self-sufficient until 1993, China’s three decades of rapid economic growth have led it to look abroad to meet its energy needs. While its approach until now has been chara more...