Oil elite networks in a transforming global oil market

This article analyses oil elite formation in light of the wider transformation that is taking place in the global oil order due to the rise of powers from the Global South, including Russia: in particular, the expansion and integration of the state-owned oil companies into the global oil market. This is done by analysing the networks that the directors of the world's largest oil companies create through their affiliations with a) other corporations, b) policy planning bodies and c) with the state. The most important finding is that the increased cooperation between the Western private oil companies and the non-Western state-owned oil companies has not yet translated into increased integration between their respective elite networks. It is argued that this indicates we are witnessing a transition towards a more multi-polar global oil order that increasingly needs to take into account the rising powers of the Global South. © The Author(s) 2012

Crude oil - end-product linkages in the European petroleum markets

Crude oil prices were found to have a significant impact on retail petroleum product prices and were shown to affect inflation and other key economic indicators. This article analyses the former's link in the European Union (EU) within a multi-national and multi-product framework. The results indicate that the old EU countries from North-West Europe are well integrated in the global petroleum markets, while the Mediterranean and Eastern European countries depend on the low-quality Russian oils. Furthermore, while product prices in the North West Europe are driven by the world benchmark crudes, countries with easy access to Russian oil are in the bidirectional relationship with its prices. Copyright 2007 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The hybridization of the state-capital nexus in the global energy order

This article theorizes the broader rearticulation of state power within the global energy order-signified by the resurgence of resource nationalism and the expansion abroad of state-owned non-Western energy corporations-alongside the persistently widening and deepening transnationalization of the global energy order. This is argued to be rooted in the broader dynamics of capital accumulation, in particular its expansive character and statist dimension. These contradictory dynamics are illustrated by empirical findings on some of the main trends of the 'new geopolitics of oil'. The article concludes that we are moving towards a more multipolar and hybrid global energy order in which the rise of statist actors from outside the Western core is not signifying a unidirectional shift towards a statist model, let alone a 'return of state capitalism', but rather is generating more hybrid forms of cooperation, new alliances and dynamics and a blurring of categories. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC