Is there an oil weapon? Security implications of changes in the structure of the international oil market.
- 2015
What is the relationship between oil and coercion? For decades states have worried that their dependence on oil gives producers a potential lever or coercion. This article comprises of four sections; Firstly, it summarizes the existing literature on the relationship between oil and coercion. Secondly, it describes changes in the structure of the international oil market since the 1970s and outlines a framework that distinguishes the degree of market power, from which potential coercive power emerges, across different stages of the petroleum supply chain. Thirdly, it uses this framework to discuss the national security problems that emerge from the exercise of market power in each of these stages. It concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the analysis.