Executive Summary

The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington held its ninth annual Petro Diplomacy conference
from June 27-28. The event examined how the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are managing
the energy transition and expectations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference,
COP28, in Dubai beginning in November.

The conference was broken up into four sessions and one keynote address. The first panel
discussed the pathways the GCC’s oil producers are charting to decarbonize their energy-intensive economies, build resilience to climate change, and prepare for a post-oil era. The discussion was framed with COP28 in mind, with speakers expressing their views on what is likely to emerge from the 14-day summit. The second panel covered the shifting geopolitics and alliances in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and how it is reshaping the Middle East, with China ascendant as an investor and economic partner. In his keynote address, Mike Howard, chair of the World Energy Council, covered the role of digitalization in the energy transition and how new technologies are reshaping the energy landscape. The third session, held on day two, was a virtual presentation by the International Energy Agency on its “Oil 2023” report, a five-year forecast of where the oil market is heading and projections of when oil demand is expected to peak. The final session, held virtually, looked at the changing picture of energy systems across the GCC and the shape of the future energy mix as the energy transition gathers pace.

Read the full paper

About Petro Diplomacy

This paper is the report for the 2023 Petro Diplomacy conference. For the ninth consecutive year, AGSIW convened its Petro Diplomacy conference. The conference brought together private and public sector stakeholders from the United States and the Gulf Arab countries to discuss emerging trends in energy markets and regional politics.