Middle Eastern Energy Security: A Study of Threats and Countermeasures

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze the impact of terrorism and regional conflicts on energy security and propose countermeasures to protect critical infrastructure. Energy security is important to world stability especially the Middle Eastern region that hosts some of the world’s key oil resources. The region has been vulnerable to conflicts, wars and terrorism, which are factors that endanger the infrastructure that supports global supply of energy. The study examine energy security, terrorism and regional conflicts are essential topics, which have been discussed in the literature. It also examines various case studies of previous tragedies and crisis that have targeted energy systems, including oil refineries. There have been a number of supply disruptions which include; acts of terrorism for example the 2006 terrorist attack on an oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq, regional instabilities like the Yemen civil war. Such occurrences reveal the weakness in key infrastructure thus acts as a pointer to world economy. It also recommends heightened cooperation among the neighbors; tough security measures; exploitation of resources outside the conventional power generation; and sound structures to be put in place in future to reduce the vulnerabilities.