Oil

Iran and Saudi Arabia have long been engaged in heated rivalry and conflict in the Middle East. These two regional powers are both major oil-exporting countries; in major foreign policy issues, therefore, oil is used as an important tool to pursue goals. Iran and Saudi Arabia have a long history of differences on oil policies, but one of the most severe differences emerged in 2011-2016, along with escalating tensions between the two countries in the region, which heavily shaped oil market trends in this period. In an attempt to analyze these oil market trends, the main question addressed in this article concerns Saudi Arabia’s decisions to use oil as a weapon against Iran in 2011-2016. The article reveals that the perception of expanding Iranian influence in the Middle East drove Saudis to resort to oil as weapon against Iran in 2011-2016. However, restrictions on the use of this tool led Saudi Arabia to withdraw from most part of this policy, especially in the oil market. The article uses neoclassical realism approach and illustrates Saudis’ direct and indirect use of oil weapon against Iran, and analyzes the outcomes of this offensive oil policy for the two countries in particular, and for the international oil market in general.

Internationalization of businesses is considered as a key factor in economic development and growth of the economic entities. On the other hand, the ability of the system for endurance and reliability is inevitably dependent on the success that the system gains in communicating with the external environment; in other words, the sustainability of the system is entirely dependent on system capability for adaptation, change and responsiveness to the environment. Furthermore, Technology-based businesses are highly dynamic and use different internationalization patterns. A literature review shows that comprehensive studies have not been conducted despite the necessity of today's businesses to move toward sustainable internationalization. Therefore, this research examines existing patterns by presenting a model for sustainable internationalization in technology-based businesses. In the present study, 6 technology-based businesses in oil and gas industry have been investigated using a multi-case interview method. The validity and reliability of data collection tools have been confirmed. The results of the interviews performed during the two coding stages revealed that economic, environmental, social and technological factors are among the factors influencing the adoption of sustainable business internationalization strategies along with a focus on a sustainable business model. This study also presents different types of sustainable internationalization strategies and classifies the internationalization’s sustainability index into two categories of profitability and sustainability of relationships in the network.

The United States is the world's first producer and consumer of oil and play a special role in international oil market relations. In a sense, due to the differences in the energy programs of the parties of this country, we will see significant changes in the international energy markets. The Trump's economic thinking in business field is based on the neo-mercantilist while the Democrats believe in global and multilateral trade. The most important energy policies of the Republican Party are the development and expansion of fossil fuel production, increasing the share of the oil market, lifting environmental restrictions, confronting OPEC, and unilateralism in the oil and gas trade. In contrast, the Democrats' most important plans in the US election are to return to the Paris Agreement and re-impose environmental restrictions, reduce oil production through legal sanctions such as taxes, expand renewable energy and use financial resources to manage the oil market and trade convergence. The main question of this article is what effect do US parties energy programs have on the oil market? The method of this research is a qualitative in a descriptive-analytical manner using desk research.

Currently, the global community is on the threshold of a transition from fossil fuels as a result of transformations such as climate change, entailing the strict implementation of carbon setoff policies and quick progress in green technologies. A transition to clean, low-carbon energies will not only disrupt the global energy system, it will also impact the global economy and political dynamism within and without all states. Based on these transformations, the present article asks the question of how the energy transition will impact the geopolitical future of the global oil economy. The authors hypothesize the following in answer to this question: Given the superior, more advanced position of economic powers such as China and the US in clean energy technologies, we are likely to witness the weakening of traditional oil powers in a post-carbon world, such as the Middle East and North African countries (MENA) and Russia; in contrast, the balance of power will tilt heavily towards current energy consumers. Technology-savvy countries have the knowledge to reproduce and stabilize their power in the global economy. The traditional countries of the energy sector, however, face shortfalls in their infrastructure and modern technologies and will lose their geopolitical position to a large extent.

Access and control of Energy has not only been historically instrumental in the sociopolitical and economic shaping of nations, but also central to the global world of politics, systems, and geopolitics. Energy resources of the Russian Federation have made the country more influential in world politics. Energy and geopolitical issues are especially important to modern People’s Republic of China as a tool for the country’s economic growth. Since the mid twentieth century, both countries have attempted to establish mutual energy cooperation as a key component of their strategic alliance based on producer-consumer needs and the Good Neighborly Treaty. Nonetheless, since the end of the cold war in the 1990s, the energy negotiations have been long and unproductive because both nations are on both sides of the energy market. For the Russian Federation, revenue from its oil and gas sector traditionally makes up a large portion of its budget. Thus, Russia is unwilling to make concessions and involve China in its major upstream energy projects. In the interim, China also seeks to diversify its oil and gas resources and imports for its own political dependency, growth, and to prevent countries from overreliance on one single source and market. Issues such as pricing and the provisions of agreements have made the energy relations between the two countries more complex than the relations between producers and consumers. Despite the two countries being neighbors, their relations have not been developed.

As a region rich in oil and gas resources, low energy prices, and a unique geopolitical position, the Middle East has been the focus of global attention, particularly for economic powers such as China and India. Due to the wide gap between energy supply and demand, especially for oil, the two countries have developed a special diplomacy for their energy supplies. Understanding the oil policies of Beijing and New Delhi as the main actors in the energy market of the Middle East is paramount for the leading oil-producing countries. By conducting a comparative analysis of the Delhi–Beijing oil policies in the Middle East, the present article will ask how domestic, regional, and international variables affect the Chinese and Indian oil policies in this region. The authors have compared the following critical variables in answer to this question: the legal structure and decision-making process, self-sufficiency levels, the geopolitical position toward the Middle East, oil diplomacy, the role of technology, and the international economic-political position of the two countries. Our findings show that the Beijing government has formulated its oil policy using a single, specific decision-making body in the energy sector. It has relied on expanding multilateral ties with other countries, long-term investments, long-term loans, expanding energy transfer pipelines, and long-term contracts to deepen its relations with oil-rich countries, particularly those in West Asia. On the other hand, India has based its diplomacy on short-term economic contracts, situation analysis, and needs assessment. It is, however, clear that both countries will continue to depend on oil from the Middle East in the medium term despite the threat of US sanctions

In modern geopolitics economic warfare has become more and more significant. This paper examines a special segment of economic warfare: can oil price be manipulated and serve as an effective geopolitical (or geoeconomic) weapon, and if that is the case, under what conditions? This article demonstrates that the United States and its allies (mainly Saudi Arabia)—when certain economic, technological, and political conditions are fulfilled—may be able to achieve a considerable and lasting decline in oil prices to restrain the military/geopolitical activities of the Soviet Union/Russia that are deemed overly excessive. This paper analyses the relationship between the oil market and geopolitics in the last decade of the Cold War, when the oil price fell sharply contributing to the collapse of the Soviet economic and political system. Research results may prove useful in forming the geopolitical/geoeconomic strategy of superpowers, and it may be applied to forecast oil price fluctuations too.

It has always been a challenging question for financial analysts, investors and activists in the capital market that what factors affect stock price of companies. Furthermore, how such factors cause stock price fluctuations over time in the capital markets. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine the effects of key contingent variables such as changes on equity, credit rating and assets price growth on stock prices volatility of petroleum companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Financial data for the purpose of this study were collected from a sample of 91 companies during a period of eight years from 1392 till 1399 and research hypotheses were tested using the multivariate regression models and ordering panel data with fixed effects tests. Results showed a significant negative relationship between credit rating and stock price volatility. But, there was no significant correlation between changes on equity and stock price volatility. Also, there was not a significant relationship between assets price growth and stock price volatility.

Considering that Iran has both oil and seawater, which is the route of transportation of oil tankers, the legal system of Iran has been discussed in this paper. Also, regulations related to prevention and dealing with pollution caused by oil tankers, regulations on how to compensate for damages caused by oil pollution, filing lawsuits, and how to receive compensation due to damages are examined with comparison to American laws. Regarding Iran's laws, it can be said that this country has not passed advanced regulations domestically and independently. However, due to the international aspect of these incidents, conventions have been formulated by international organizations, and by joining them, Iran has aligned itself with the international community in this field. However, since most of its states are surrounded by the sea and a lot of oil is transported through its ports, the United States enacted legislation in this field before the international community, and the history of its legislation dates back to 1924. With its strong domestic laws, the United States has not acceded to international conventions and still considers its national laws to govern these matters. Hence, the laws of this country and its performance be set as a model for other countries that are struggling with these issues.

Considering the intermediary role of banks in the economy and their critical function in the propagation of economic shocks to the real sector, this study aims to investigate the role of bank capital in analyzing the relationship between banks' balance sheet characteristics and economic fluctuations using a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model. The results demonstrate that, in the model with a bank capital channel, positive shocks lead to more robust economic growth. This is attributed to the banks' ability to invest, enhancing the positive effects of shocks. Taking bank capital into account, variables such as consumption, and inflation exhibit better performance, with reduced fluctuations or quicker adjustments, leading to economic stability. Conversely, in an economic scenario without a bank capital channel, positive shocks have a lesser impact on economic variables. Consequently, the results can effectively inform decision-making regarding the necessity of adhering to bank capital adequacy ratios.

One of the main concepts in finance is portfolio diversification and optimization. Typically, investors use the risk and return approach to diversify their portfolios. However, risk spillovers and market connectivity should also be considered when making investment decisions, especially during times of crisis. The TVP-VAR approach is used in this study to analyze risk spillovers and connectivity between the S&P 500 index, green bond, real estate, oil market, and dollar index in the USA from 2016 to July 2022. The TVP-VAR model is a time-varying model that may consider current political and economic circumstances. As a result, investors can choose wisely when it comes to their portfolios. According to comparisons with other markets, the S&P 500 index and the real estate market are the two most significant sources of volatility in the system. In fact, they not only transmit greater volatility, but they also take it in more. After 2020, there will likely be a significant increase in the volatility of the real estate market and the S&P 500 index due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Additionally, as anticipated, other markets have an impact on the green bond market. It does not, however, transmit them.