New oils are emerging in the United States and worldwide. The degree to which global oils differ from one another is increasing, from carbon-laden oils that resist flow to ultra-light petroleum liquids trapped in tight shale oil. Developing these unconventional oils requires a clear departure from business-as-usual practices. The Carnegie Oil Initiative provides expert analysis, strategic guidance, and policy frameworks to manage new oil assets while protecting the climate.
Carnegie’s work to understand emerging new oils has been ongoing since our seminal publication, Understanding Unconventional Oil, in 2012. All publications from this project are archived here.
People cannot advocate the removal of subsidies for renewable energy until they do so for equally problematic fossil-fuel subsidies.
The International Energy Agency forecasts that oil will remain the world’s largest energy source for the next several decades, even as action on climate change ramps up. What roles will regulation, innovation, and competition play in the oil sector in the years ahead?
China hopes that the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris will help the country deepen reforms in its energy sector.
China’s commitment to addressing climate change may help serve as a bridge between the negotiating positions of developed and developing countries.
The evolution of the oil intensity of the American and German economies, in conjunction with the carbon intensity of their oil use moving forward, offers many untapped opportunities for joint global leadership on oil governance in the twenty-first century.
The Volkswagen affair brings to light broader policy failures on both side of the Atlantic. Rectifying it will require actions beyond just the automotive sector.