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The US intervention in Venezuela may jeopardize both the flow of discounted Venezuelan oil to China's teapot refineries and the role of Chinese oil companies in Venezuela’s upstream business.
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Early on January 3, 2026, the United States apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and removed Maduro from power. Maduro was transported to New York, where he now faces federal charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
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On January 1, 2026, the European Union's highly-anticipated Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will take effect. Introduced in 2023, CBAM will require the importers of certain carbon-intensive goods...
The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University SIPA is excited to announce the publication of From Black Gold to Frozen Gas: How Qatar Became an Energy Superpower by renowned energy expert and CGEP Advisory Board Member Michael D. Tusiani and award-winning oil industry journalist Anne-Marie Johnson. ‘From Black Gold to Frozen Gas’ is the latest in CGEP’s book series edited by founding director Jason Bordoff, and details Qatar’s journey to becoming a global energy powerhouse and one of the world’s wealthiest countries.
“At its core, ‘From Black Gold to Frozen Gas’ offers a comprehensive analysis of Qatar’s rise in the last half century to become a global natural gas superpower examining the geopolitical and economic implications of this dramatic transformation,” said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy. “It gives readers a behind-the-scenes look into the complicated power dynamics and challenges Qatar has tackled along the way to becoming a dominant force in the global energy market today.”
Backed by extensive research and building on Tusiani’s firsthand experiences, ‘From Black Gold to Frozen Gas’ illustrates the complex interplay of geopolitics, economic pressures, and internal dynamics that shaped Qatar’s trajectory as a major player in the global energy market. It meticulously chronicles the challenges faced by the country, from the initial interests of British and American oil companies in the 1920s to the development of the North field, the world’s largest gas field, and Qatar’s emergence as a leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the 2000s.
From Black Gold to Frozen Gas: How Qatar Became an Energy Superpower is available for purchase on the Columbia University Press website. For interviews or media requests, please contact [email protected].
Reviews
Talal Abdulla Al-Emadi, dean, Qatar University College of Law:
A unique historical account of Qatar’s energy industry. Tusiani and Johnson detail the country’s accomplishments as well as covering the challenges faced along the way. This book will be a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Qatar, global energy, and geopolitics.
Lisa Anderson, Columbia University:
From Black Gold to Frozen Gas is the definitive account of Qatar’s growth from a tiny backwater to a major force in global markets and regional politics. This book draws on Tusiani’s fifty years working in Qatar’s gas industry to provide a fascinating and well-told insider’s account, featuring both deep research and unique personal insight.
About the Authors
Michael D. Tusiani is the chairman emeritus of the energy consulting and brokerage firm Poten & Partners. He joined Poten in 1973 and served as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1983 to 2016. His career has involved all aspects of oil and gas trading and transportation. Tusiani is the author or coauthor of five books, most recently LNG: After the Pandemic (2023).
Anne-Marie Johnson is an award-winning oil industry journalist who covered Qatar and the Gulf states as a senior editor at the Middle East Economic Survey and at Poten & Partners, where she edited the firm’s flagship LNG publication. She began her career at Mobil as an analyst in the Middle East Department.
About the CGEP Book Series
The CGEP book series, edited by Founding Director Jason Bordoff, covers a range of topics important to the global energy dialogue. Find out more and purchase books through the Columbia University Press.
But given practical hurdles and huge political risk, experts say U.S. access to the deposits is likely a pipe dream.
The consensus is that beyond the exit of Nicolás Maduro, a regime change must occur to garner interest from companies.
Venezuela’s oil industry has been in the spotlight since President Donald Trump captured the country’s President Nicolas Maduro.
The US intervention in Venezuela may jeopardize both the flow of discounted Venezuelan oil to China's teapot refineries and the role of Chinese oil companies in Venezuela’s upstream business.
In discussing the dramatic seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, over the weekend, President Donald Trump declared that the United States would now “take back” the country’s oil. Yet he has offered little clarity on what exactly this means.
The country could see a relatively rapid recovery of some oil production, depending on the leadership that emerges.
