ABSTRACT
One of the alarming situations regarding the current energy supply and demand scenario is the peaking of supply due to rapid utilization (Greene et al., 2006). The scenario also causes instabilities and unpredictability for the long-term energy supply situation owing to the domination of energy suppliers from specific regions and groupings. Hence, the main source of global conventional energy sources comes from the Middle East and Russia. A decade ago, the Middle East accounted for 33% of the world’s conventional energy supply (IEA, 2004). In addition, the Russian Federation is becoming the global supplier, particularly of natural gas (Gelb, 2006). Due to the above situation, energy and economic politics have collided, examples being the 1973 oil crisis, the Gulf War and the Russia-Ukraine crisis (Gelb, 2006).
