BRUSSELS, March 23: The EastWest Institute today released State-Owned vs. Multinational Oil: New Rules for Market Intervention, a policy paper calling for the creation of an international tribunal to resolve disputes and improve competition in global energy markets. The financial crisis has highlighted the need for such an inclusive governance structure as pump-priming increases the possibility of political friction between energy producers and consumers.

The paper proposes the establishment of an international energy tribunal, a body that would be administered by the International Energy Agency but acts as an independent advisory board with its own relationships with non-IEA members. Without such a body, the study suggests, the stability of energy supplies can fall prey to political demands on state-owned energy companies and threaten relations between energy-producing and energy-consuming countries.

The international community needs new and innovative ideas to shape a more inclusive global governance structure for energy security', said Angelica Austin, Fellow at the EastWest Institute and author of the paper. The tribunal could act in potentially explosive situations, such as last January's Russia-Ukraine gas crisis or the Shell Sakhalin dispute.

In addition to the International Energy Tribunal, the paper calls for regulatory regimes to encourage greater competition in energy-exporting countries.

Contacts: Sarosh Syed, +1-646-662-1913, ssyed@ewi.info
Jean Dumont de Chassart, +32 (2) 743-4610, jdc@ewi.info