Contemporary Geopolitics and the Future of Global Oil Supply

Hosted by: NSW AIIA

The event will start on: Tuesday, 10 May 2011 6:00 PM

And will end on: Tuesday, 10 May 2011 7:30 PM

At The Glover Cottages, Sydney

124 Kent Street , Sydney NSW

(02) 9247 8504     nswexec@aiia.asn.au

Posted by: nsw   

In the space of only three months, we have seen political unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. There are also signs of latent political volatility elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa, which are the pivotal oil exporting region of the world. To give us an insight into these volatile geopolitical hot spots, on May 10 we welcome Robert Pritchard, an expert on energy security issues, to provide answers to the following questions:

 What is the cause of our vulnerability to oil supply disruptions? The US is the most vulnerable oil importing country. What have successive US Presidents done? Are we likely to see the Carter Doctrine invoked to protect US interests? What is President Obama now saying? Apart from the US, what are the other vulnerable countries? How will they react? What about China in particular? How would an oil supply disruption affect Australia? What does internal political unrest mean for the oil exporting countries? What is really going on underneath the surface in the Middle East? What is different this time? Will democratic governments be better to deal with than despots? What role will the oil price and benefit-sharing play in avoiding war and civil unrest? Can the 'resource curse' be turned into a blessing? How will the risk of an oil supply disruption affect Australian energy policies and the trade and investment strategies of Australian energy companies and consumers?

 The evening will also be a unique opportunity to showcase the work of the six AIIA interns who have been working with ResourcesLaw International on a political analysis of the key oil producing countries. They will join Robert Pritchard at the top table to provide their views on the internal political situation in the main oil exporting countries. AIIA members should book early for this highly topical event on the AIIA NSW calendar.

 Robert Pritchard, is the Managing Director of ResourcesLaw International and the Executive Director of the Energy Alliance of Australia. He brings to the Institute a life-long career in energy security and the geopolitics of Northern Africa and the Middle East.