Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Players in the energy game
- OPEC
- Qatar
- Kuwait
- Iraq
- Iran
- The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has 12 members
- Angola
- Venezuela
- Saudi Arabia
- OPEC's influence is now weaker than it was in previous decades because some significant oil producers have decided not to join
the organisation. These include Russia, Norway, Mexico and the USA
- Ecuador
- Nigeria
- Algeria
- Libya
- UAE
- OPEC holds two-thirds of the world's oil reserves, and in 2008 accounted for
36% of the world's oil production
- It has been accused of holding back
production in order to drive up oil prices
- There are many who doubt whether OPEC has achieved more than the first of it's aims
- To ensure an efficient, economic and
regular supply of oil to consuming nations
- To stabilise oil prices and eliminate harmful
and unnecessary price fluctuations
- To protect the interests of member
countries, individually and collectively
- China is a particularly interesting case in that its rapid industrialisation and voracious demand for energy
have turned it from a net exporter of oil to a net imported
- Newly industrialising economies such as China are beginning to flex their muscles in the global energy arena
- Recently, however, some new players have emerged
- The most powerful players of stakeholders in the global supply of energy are the oil-producing and exporting countries (OPEC), some of the
oil-producing countries outside OPEC (e.g USA, Russia and Mexico) and a number of TNCs, most notably oil giants such as Shell, Exxon Mobil and BP
- The top 20 oil companies
- At least eight of them are
state-owned companies, so they
do not really qualify as TNCs.
They are private rather than
public sector companies
- They are government controlled
and perhaps more active in the
realms of geopolitics
- The remaining companies are relatively free of direct political
influence and driven rather more by economic considerations and
their share-holders
- Most of these 20 companies are involved in a range of operations of which pumping oil is only
one. They are also engaged in transporting and refining oil and in petrochemical industries
- Exploring for new reserves and looking for
new sources of energy are also important.
These companies have to plan for when
the oil runs out
- Their diversity and presence in many countries ensures that TNCs, and
other further down the rankings, will continue to be key players in an
increasingly tough game