Power Struggle: Implications of the Changing Global Gas Market for the Middle East and Asia

The Brookings Doha Center (BDC) and Brookings Energy Security Initiative (ESI) convened the second annual Brookings Doha Energy Forum in Doha, Qatar. This year’s forum, from April 1-2, explored the theme “Power Struggle: Implications of the Changing Global Gas Market for the Middle East and Asia.”

The private, closed-door conference was the second in a series that examines the relationship between the Middle East and the emerging global powers of the 21st century. This year’s forum shed light on three principal themes:

• The increasing prominence of Middle East-Asia energy relations;
• The implications of political and economic change in the region for energy production and consumption; and
• The prospects for investment in the region’s energy infrastructure. The Forum addressed these questions with a primary focus on natural gas.

The 2013 Forum’s Keynote Address was given by H.E. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor Al-Thani, prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the State of Qatar. Following the keynote address, opening remarks were given by H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sadah, Qatari minister of energy and industry; H.E. Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al Naimi, Saudi Arabian minister of petroleum and mineral resources; and Andrew Swiger, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

The Brookings Doha Energy Forum was attended by decision-makers and experts from major Gulf producers, the United States, Europe, and key Asian powers, including China, India, Japan, and South Korea. Attendees include a range of high-ranking officials, experts, leaders of national oil companies, and representatives of the corporate sector.

“The world is facing structural shifts in international gas flows at the same time it is witnessing rapid and unprecedented change in the Middle East,” said Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center. “The 2013 Forum will bring together senior figures in the energy industry—including officials, executives, and analysts—to discuss these changes from a constructive, multidimensional platform.”

“Global natural gas markets are at a critical juncture,” said Charles Ebinger, director of the Brookings Energy Security Initiative. “The shifting dynamics of gas supply and demand are rewriting the traditional energy producer-consumer relationships, a shift that has still unclear geopolitical implications. Through its 2013 Doha Energy Forum, Brookings is placing itself at the center of this critical issue.”

The Brookings Doha Energy Forum is a product of the BDC-ESI Energy Partnership, which aims to address issues arising out of the nexus between the changing global energy landscape and the growing importance of local politics in the world. This collaboration links the expertise of the Energy Security Initiative with the Brookings Doha Center’s experience and scholarship on political transitions in the Gulf and broader Middle East.