Key Players in the energy game

Key Players in the energy game

1. Consumers

   • Often highly price sensitive
   • Can exert pressure of governments
   • Population growth leads to increased demand
   • Industrialisation increasing demand
   • Continuously requiring more and more energy
   • Can be greatly effected by disputes

2. Governments

   • Facilitate responsible development and production of energy resources
   • Establish marketplace rules with long-term clarity
   • Ensure externalities causing economic harm to society are fully internalised into market pricing
   • Promote full disclosure and transparency of information to all market participants to help in making optimal decisions
   • Privatize public sector assets in competitive market sectors, and hod assets in non-competitive segments to eliminate the possibility of exploitation by for-profit monopolists
   • Provide tax credits for pre-commercial research on new energy technologies to spur further innovation

3. NICs, e.g. China

   • Major consumers
   • NICs such as China are beginning to flex their muscles in the global energy arena
   • In particular China as its rapid industrialisation and voracious demand for energy have turned it from a net exporter to a net importer

4. Oil-producing countries outside OPEC e.g. USA, Russia & Mexico

   • Most important players
   • Countries are dependent on them
   • Can cause wide disruption if they cut supply
   • Essentially 'call the shots'
   • Have to increase production to meet demand
   • Very secure
   • Petrodollar economy growing due to an increasing demand