Global Policy journal publishes GPPi article on OPEC

GPPi fellows Andreas Goldthau and Jan Martin Witte have published an article in the September 2011 edition of the journal Global Policy on OPEC’s performance in regulating output and prices in the global oil market during its 50 years of existence. Titled Assessing OPEC’s Performance in Global Energy, the article appears in a special edition of Global Policy that focuses on global energy governance.

Goldthau and Witte’s piece discusses key trends that are likely to determine OPEC’s effectiveness in the years ahead, particularly climate change policies. They find that OPEC’s ability to control the oil market has historically been limited as a result of both internal collective action problems and external factors such as the rise of new producers.

Furthermore, the authors find that climate change policies may negatively impact long-term planning security for investment and hence OPEC’s ability to target price bands and smooth the oil market. OPEC will need to become more proactive in low-carbon policies to remain part of the decision making on future energy demand patterns that affects its main export product.

Finally, Goldthau and Witte submit that OPEC has a great role to play in fighting price volatility, a key concern for both producers and consumers, and that the best platform for enhanced efforts in this regard would probably be the International Energy Forum.