Working Paper - ENERGY SECURITY
FOREWORD
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the geopolitical landscape has considerably changed with the US maintaining, for the time being, its economic and military superiority. It seems, anyway, that the world is moving towards a fundamental reshuffle of the global balance of power with the emergence of actors whose posture will eventually shape a new global order through alliances reflecting interests different from those currently dominating international politics.
Coping with and possibly managing this global transformation will have consequences for how global oil and gas supply and demand are structured. Only a few years ago, oil and gas export originated mainly from the Middle East and were transported to the trans-Atlantic areas; today, both supply and demands are much more diversified. Russia, Central Asia, West Africa and Latin America have also become significant hydrocarbons suppliers, while the economic rise of countries in Asia, particularly China and India, have diversified the demand structure for energy suppliers.
This transformation will have a direct impact on both sides of the supply and demand equation. It will increase the bargaining power of the suppliers as they find hungry new customers but, at the same time, consumers will have the opportunity to negotiate alternative deals with a number of suppliers operating outside the OPEC-pricing mechanism.