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.
The decline in crude oil prices heralds a new era.
Oil policies in Asia will drive oil development practices and protections worldwide, but they require transparency and data disclosure so that Asia’s decision-makers can better weigh their oil options.
Lower oil prices can be an opportunity for oil companies, as it shifts the bargaining power in their favor at the negotiating table with host governments.
Doubts have been raised and criticisms continue to be made about Lebanon’s choice of upstream petroleum fiscal terms and strategies to award oil and gas licenses.
Is OPEC an endangered species condemned to disappear?
U.S. shale producers don’t have the power that Saudi Arabia has wielded over the world oil market, but they have brought a new era of competition.