Asked by Larry Davenport, from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Israel has discovered substantial natural gas deposits off its shores in the last four years. While these gas finds are not significant in terms of global gas supply (they constitute less than two percent of the world's proven gas reserves), they do appear large enough not only to meet Israel's needs, but to enable Israel to export significant quantities.
According to Michael Levi, the boom in American energy production could be short-lived, "if we don't get serious about the accompanying risks and make sure that oil and gas development is done right."
In his testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, Michael A. Levi discusses the geopolitical consequences of a Department of Energy decision on liquid natural gas exports; the geopolitical consequences of exports themselves; and steps that the United States could take domestically to increase support for liquid natural gas exports.
The international trade in natural gas--and the rest of the energy business--has been turned upside down. It's as startling as it would be if rivers decided to run upstream.
Michael A. Levi says natural gas is a good and inexpensive alternative to coal and oil, but it's still a fossil fuel. Keeping in mind that gas is far from a permanent climate solution, delegates meeting in Doha for the UN climate change negotiations "should strengthen their efforts, individually and collectively, to promote innovation and development of cost-effective zero-carbon energy options."
Michael A. Levi argues that the likely benefits of allowing U.S. natural gas exports outweigh the costs of explicitly constraining them, provided that appropriate environmental protections are in place.
Meghan O'Sullivan says that discoveries of large, underwater gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean could bring economic and political benefits as well as regional clout to Israel at a time when Israel's regional standing is more uncertain than it has been for decades.
Interest in natural gas is growing for political, environmental, and economic reasons. But the industry faces challenges to adding pipelines, increasing international LNG trade, and exploiting newly found shale gas reserves.
Buoyed by high oil prices, Russia finds itself embroiled in a number of disputes with foreign firms looking to tap its underdeveloped oil fields and with its neighbors that grew used to subsidized gas.
Jeffrey Mankoff, an expert on Russia, says the dispute that led Russia to cut off natural gas to Ukraine has its origins in differences over pricing as well as Ukraine's interest in closer ties with the West.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
Special operations play a critical role in how the United States confronts irregular threats, but to have long-term strategic impact, the author argues, numerous shortfalls must be addressed.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
An authoritative and accessible look at what countries must do to build durable and prosperous democracies—and what the United States and others can do to help. More
Through an in-depth analysis of modern Mexico, Shannon O'Neil provides a roadmap for the United States' greatest overlooked foreign policy challenge of our time—relations with its southern neighbor. More