The event featured Carolyn Kissane, academic director at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, who examined the complex geopolitics of oil against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and recent OPEC+ decisions to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day. Kissane highlighted that global oil demand currently exceeds 100 million barrels per day and continues to rise, largely driven by Asian markets, despite climate agreements like the Paris Accord. She discussed Russia's strategic shift in oil exports toward Asia via pipelines and discounted sales to countries like China, India, Turkey, and Singapore, circumventing Western sanctions with methods including shadow tankers and insurance workarounds involving Russian funds. The webinar addressed U.S.-Saudi relations tensions intensified by Saudi Arabia’s production cut decisions and their implications for American consumers and strategic reserves. Other key topics included China’s restrained oil production capacity and territorial claims in the South China Sea, Venezuela’s large but underutilized reserves hampered by political and infrastructural challenges, and the role of state-owned oil companies in controlling over 75% of global oil reserves. The discussion underscored the continuing economic and geopolitical challenges posed by the intertwined global energy system, emphasizing persistent uncertainty over peak demand and the pace of the energy transition.

The event featured Carolyn Kissane, academic director at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs, who examined the complex geopolitics of oil against the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and recent OPEC+ decisions to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day. Kissane highlighted that global oil demand currently exceeds 100 million barrels per day and continues to rise, largely driven by Asian markets, despite climate agreements like the Paris Accord. She discussed Russia's strategic shift in oil exports toward Asia via pipelines and discounted sales to countries like China, India, Turkey, and Singapore, circumventing Western sanctions with methods including shadow tankers and insurance workarounds involving Russian funds. The webinar addressed U.S.-Saudi relations tensions intensified by Saudi Arabia’s production cut decisions and their implications for American consumers and strategic reserves. Other key topics included China’s restrained oil production capacity and territorial claims in the South China Sea, Venezuela’s large but underutilized reserves hampered by political and infrastructural challenges, and the role of state-owned oil companies in controlling over 75% of global oil reserves. The discussion underscored the continuing economic and geopolitical challenges posed by the intertwined global energy system, emphasizing persistent uncertainty over peak demand and the pace of the energy transition.