PAGE 52 The Evolution
of the Global Energy Market
Introduction
The global energy market is going through large-scale changes, some
of which may reach their final phase by 2017. There are increasing
signs that the traditional code of relations between energy producers
and consumers, established in the last quarter of the 20th century,
is becoming a thing of history. Mechanisms for regulating the
global energy market no longer work. Competition between consumers,
fueled by the emergence of new powerful players, like China
and India, is obviously increasing.
Oil fields that are situated close to the developed countries, where
oil price-hikes in the 1970s-1980s prompted oil production, are now
near exhaustion. Today, large-scale investment is required in new oilbearing
areas in West Africa, Central Asia, the Caspian region and
Russia in order to replace depleting oil fields. A new energy reality
is taking shape in the world.
The world’s key energy players include:
• The United States – the world’s largest oil consumer (24.6%). It
imports more than one half of the oil that it consumes. The United
States is also the world’s leading importer of natural gas (16% of
global imports);
• The Middle East accounts for 61% of global oil and 40.1% of natural
gas reserves, which makes it a crucial regional factor in the
energy strategies of the world’s largest consumers;
52 Global Trends
THE WORLD AROUND RUSSIA: 2017
4
The main authors of this chapter are Dr. Vagif Guseinov, Director of the Institute of
Strategic Studies and Analysis (ISSA); Dr. Alexei Denisov, ISSA Deputy Director General;
and Alexander Goncharenko, expert with the Socio-Economic Information Bureau.
