The challenges presented by global competition for access to oil, gas and mineral resources will be the focus of a Europe-wide study being led by the University of Dundee.
The primary goals are to identify the main global challenges relating to competition for access to resources and to propose new approaches to collaborative solutions. Spearheading the project is the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at the University of Dundee, which will work with 11 other partners from across Europe.
Those partners are:
University of Westminster (UK).
Clingendael International Energy Programme (The Netherlands).
Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (Germany).
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (Italy).
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France).
ENERDATA (France).
Raw Materials Group (Sweden).
Gulf Research Center Foundation (Switzerland).
The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (The Netherlands).
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Germany).
Osrodek Studiow Wschodnich (Poland).
It is funded by a £2.5million (2.7million euro) grant from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, theme “Socio-economics Sciences & Humanities”.
Project co-ordinator Professor Philip Andrews-Speed, of CEPMLP, considers the project “very timely”.
While it is driven by the fear of depletion of critical energy and mineral resources, Andrews-Speed acknowledges that this is nothing new, but suggests that the last decade of sustained economic growth across the world has reinforced this concern.
“High commodity prices and fears of future shortages tend to raise tensions and stimulate conflict,” said Andrews-Speed.
“As resource-importing nations struggle to secure their supplies, so resource-exporting nations seek to enhance their bargaining power.
“Importing countries compete with each other rather than co-operate in efforts to secure supplies, while within resource-rich countries, conflicts may arise as different parties seek to gain the benefits of the additional revenues. This project will identify the main issues regarding this competition to access supplies and propose new approaches for collaborative solutions.
It should support EU evidence-based policies in the energy sector. With the Lisbon Treaty, energy is now a shared competence between the union and the member states.”
The title of the project is “Competition and collaboration in access to oil, gas and mineral resources”. It will run for three years and has just kicked off.
It is thoroughly multidisciplinary and draws on expertise in geology, engineering, new technologies and materials, economics, international relations, political science and law.
CEPMLP’s particular skills include economics, law, policy and politics relating to both energy and minerals, together with an international outlook.
It is expected that the project will draw on the expertise of most of full-time academic staff as well as a number of the global faculty.
According to Daniele Benintendi, of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, this project will offer new tools to policy-makers and companies to address the challenges that look like facing us over the next 30 years.
Events will be organised in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, including a special presentation of the results to the industry, research and energy committee of the European Parliament.