The Shale Revolution and Beyond: Has Turkey Faced the Consequences of US Energy Transition?

This article differentiates substantial factors from circumstantial ones in order to map the degree of their significance for Turkey’s energy policy with highlights concerning Turkey’s foreign policy. It primarily focuses on the consequences of US energy transition, in which the shale revolution plays a dominant role, as one of the most significant sources of the substantial change with a direct influence on global energy, Turkey’s energy strategy and, therefore, indirectly on Turkey’s foreign relations. It is not meant to simply identify substantial changes with one independent variable as if they are mere consequences of the US energy transition. The article aims at bringing out the technological, economic and geopolitical features of US energy transition in order to point to their interactions with Turkey’s international relations in general, and Turkey’s energy strategy in particular. This problematic deserves a further, indepth analysis, not only because there is a lack of research on the impact of the US shale revolution and US energy transition in terms of their consequences at the domestic, global and international levels, but also because it may highlight policy options concerning energy strategy and foreign relations in due course

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  • Ibid.; MENR 2015-2019.
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  • MENR 2010-2014; MENR 2015-2019. 22 Ibid.
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  • See Ibid.; James T. Bartis, Tom LaTourrette, Lloyd Dixon, D.J. Peterson and Gary Cecchine, Oil Shale Development in the United States: Prospects and Policy Issues, Santa Monica, RAND, 2005. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid.
  • Just like Canadian oil sands, shale industry in the USA is highly vulnerable to environmental regulations. See, API (2017), US Oil Shale: Protecting Our Environment, at Factsheet_2.pdf (last visited 14 March 2017).
  • Bartis, LaTourrette, Dixon, Peterson and Cecchine, Oil Shale Development in the United States.
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  • This section comprised of a comparative analysis of energy legal frameworks in the USA from 1920 to 2017 has been compiled from US Congress Bill Searches and Lists. It is based on the assumption, as set in the introduction,that these legal frameworks timely respond to actual and expected challenges and goals, and point to the strategic pillars in the US energy strategy. See, US Congress, Bill Searches and Lists, at https://www. congress.gov/ (last visited 15 March 2017).
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  • There emerged a discussion in the US, whether this plan was for or against the state’s rights to develop their own energy plans stemming from their idiosyncratic priorities. See, David B. Rivkin, Jr., Andrew M. Grossman, and Mark W. DeLaquil, “Does EPA’s Clean Power Plan Proposal Violate the States’ Sovereign Rights?”, Engage, Vol.16, No. 1 (February 2015), pp. 36-45.
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PERCEPTIONS: Journal of International Affairs-Cover
  • ISSN: 1300-8641
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 1996
  • Yayıncı: T.C Dışişleri Bakanlığı