Political tensions add to concern over future energy sources

Economists wasted little time in assessing the impact on the supply chain from the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States and to bomb Saudi Arabian and Israeli embassies.

Among the remarks sent to LM last evening, Daniel Yergin, Chairman of IHS CERA and author of The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World said this plot ratchets up tensions in the already tense relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two largest producers in OPEC.

“It is still too early to determine the potential impact on global oil prices. But anything that threatens the security and stability of the Persian Gulf region, home to 60 percent of world oil reserves, will be of great concern to the oil markets and will reinforce anxieties and uncertainties that exist in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.”

The context for tensions between Iran and its Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf is discussed in Chapter 14, “Shifting Sands in the Persian Gulf” of Dr. Yergin’s book, The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World.

For more information about Daniel Yergin and The Quest visit www.danielyergin.com and the Daniel Yergin IHS Press Page