Governing the International Oil Market in the 4th Era. Addressing Increased Competition through State Intervention

This policy brief investigates the brewing 4th era of the international oil market – a market which is in a  period  of uncertainty  and change.  Market  mechanisms  are changing, and  new  key  players  are emerging.  A  main  feature  of  the  past decade  has  been  the  increase of  National  Oil  Companies (NOCs)  belonging  to  states  who are  net  importers  of  oil.  These companies, in addition  to  more traditional producer  NOCs  with  vast reserves , are  identified  as  key  drivers  of  current  market changes. A common feature for these actors is that they have developed from being passive players to vertically and horizontally integrated global companies, and that they tend to view oil as a quasi-public good.  This is an  opposing  view  to  previous  majors  of  the  international  oil  market,  which have to a large extent viewed and treated oil as a private good.