Drawing on lessons from a Council on Foreign Relations workshop in January 2012, Blake Clayton and Michael A. Levi examine the connection between global oil markets and international relations, saying that in many cases the oil trade is politically consequential simply because policymakers believe that it is.

After decades of fueling hunger for oil in the United States, Europe, and China, Blake Clayton says that the Middle East itself has developed a voracious appetite for energy.

Blake Clayton says what's really behind New York's epic gasoline lines in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is the problem of getting gas and power to gas stations, with panic buying making things all the worse.

Blake Clayton says the biggest challenge of building the twenty-first century energy economy isn't just the transition from dirty fuels to cleaner, sustainable ones; it's about making the advances of the last two centuries available to the world's poorest people.

Blake Clayton argues that cyber attacks on oil and gas operations are the new face of energy insecurity, with vast potential for crippling effects on global energy prices and nations far beyond the Middle East.

Blake Clayton says Iraq is in a unique position to help take the edge off a global oil market under serious strain, but time will tell whether the country will achieve its lofty goals—or if they will remain a mirage.

Blake Clayton and Greg Sharenow explain how the threat of a Strategic Petroleum Reserve release is a tantalizing tool to influence the oil market and consider whether the White House is the new Federal Reserve of oil.

In an article launching a new Forbes.com blog, "Risk and Return," Blake Clayton says that President Obama, having learned the hard way last year that a Strategic Petroleum Reserve release can't reliably lower oil prices for very long, is likely weighing the potential political costs of a release versus its possible economic benefits.

In a new article for Foreign Policy, Blake Clayton argues that it's Western politicians, not Arabian sheikhs or OPEC officials, who are roiling the oil markets today.

Blake Clayton argues for greater transparency about the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve's capabilities to release oil to the market, particularly in light of profound recent changes in the North American oil landscape.

Blake Clayton argues that energy officials should look to the 2011 International Energy Agency-coordinated Strategic Petroleum Reserve release for insight into when it makes sense to draw on national oil stockpiles.

In this Working Paper, Blake Clayton, fellow for energy and national security, discusses how the International Energy Agency (IEA)–coordinated emergency oil release of 2011 offers lessons for policymakers and energy officials in IEA countries and provides insight into how future releases should be structured.

Blake Clayton says Wall Street is not to blame for high gas prices.

The authors analyze the prospect of oil drilling off the coast of Cuba and suggest precautions the United States should take to defend against a potential oil spill emanating from Cuba.