Thursday, June 11th
Registration &
Food: 6:30 - 7:15pm
Program: 7:15 - 8:30pm
Last year, when Saudi Arabia and OPEC did not reduce production levels, global oil prices continued their sharp decrease. Some analysts say Saudi Arabia made this decision to further discourage fracking for oil in the U.S and potentially elsewhere and also to further weaken the largely oil dependent economy of its main regional adversary Iran.
What is the relationship like between Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf States and Iran? What are the energy geo-politics of the region? How has the sectarian violence and virtual proxy wars in Syria and Iraq further strained the already troubled relationship between largely Shiite Iran and largely Sunni Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies? And is the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States changing?
Jim Krane is the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. He researches the geopolitical aspects of energy, with a focus on the Middle East, and energy consumption, investment and technology in exporting states. Krane is a longtime journalist who reported from the Middle East for more than five years. He was the Gulf correspondent for the Associated Press in Dubai, and he also wrote about the Gulf region for The Wall Street Journal, The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Financial Times and many other publications.
Krane was based for more than a year in Iraq, where he covered the aftermath of the U.S. invasion and ensuing insurgency for AP. He is the winner of several journalism awards, including the 2003 AP Managing Editors Deadline Reporting Award for his coverage of Saddam Hussein’s capture in Iraq. Krane is a member of Cambridge University’s Energy Policy Research Group, where his Ph.D. studies took place. He holds an M.Phil. in technology policy from Cambridge University and a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University. He is the author of the acclaimed book: City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism.
Heavy appetizers served. If possible, please register in advance with this link as this program may reach capacity:
http://www.wachouston.org/assnfe/ev.asp?ID=611&SnID=
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