Robin Mills

Non-Resident Fellow, AGSIW; CEO, Qamar Energy

Robin Mills is a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and the CEO of Qamar Energy. He established Qamar Energy in 2015 to meet the need for regionally based Middle East energy insight. He is an expert on energy strategy and economics, described by Foreign Policy Magazine as “one of the energy world’s great minds.”

Mills has led major consulting assignments for the European Union in Iraq, and for a variety of international oil companies on Middle East business development, integrated gas and power generation, and renewable energy. Mills worked for a decade for Shell, concentrating on new business development in the Middle East. He subsequently worked for six years with Dubai Holding and the Emirates National Oil Company, where he advanced business development efforts in the Middle East energy sector.

He is a fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy and senior fellow of the Iraq Energy Institute, spent two years as the non-resident fellow for energy at the Brookings Institution, is a columnist on energy and environment for The National and Bloomberg, and is the author of the influential report on Middle East solar, Sunrise in the Desert, and two books, The Myth of the Oil Crisis, and Capturing Carbon. 

He holds a first-class degree in geology from the University of Cambridge, and speaks Arabic, Farsi, Dutch, and Norwegian.

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Can Iran Sustain Its Oil and Gas Export Surge?

Iran’s oil resurgence is a critical market and political development, but the Iranian energy industry remains in a shaky state.

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GCC Grid Infrastructure and Connectivity – An Electrifying Vision

The Middle East could become the center of an electric spider’s web, but such dreams face massive challenges.

Petro Diplomacy 2023: The Energy Transition and the Road to COP28

On June 27 and 28, AGSIW convened its ninth annual Petro Diplomacy conference. 

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Fossil Fuels and the Gulf Energy Transition

While the global energy transition will present challenges for the Gulf Arab states, there are climate-compatible ways to use a significant portion of Gulf hydrocarbon reserves.

Petro Diplomacy 2022: Gulf Countries on the Front Line of Energy Security

On October 20 and 21, AGSIW convened its eighth annual Petro Diplomacy conference. 

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OPEC+ to Cut Production, but Should Heed Energy Market Shifts

OPEC’s oil market management could be more nuanced than the blunt instrument of quotas, and should OPEC recast its mission as assisting its members in energy transition and economic diversification, it might attract less opprobrium.

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The European Union and Gulf Energy: A Gateway for Cooperation

In recent years, the EU has been inattentive to the GCC, but the immediate Ukrainian crisis and the long-term climate crisis have combined to jolt Brussels out of this complacency.

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Iranian Claims Cloud Kuwaiti-Saudi Neutral Zone Deal

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia’s deal to develop the Dorra gas field could set up a confrontation between Iran and Kuwait – one of the GCC states with which Tehran has the most cordial relations.

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Could Iran Replace Russian Oil and Gas?

A revived nuclear deal with Iran would untangle some energy knots while tightening others.

Following Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, Can Gulf Countries Stabilize Energy Markets? 

On March 10, AGSIW hosted a discussion examining the impact of the Ukraine crisis on global oil and gas markets and the direct effects on the Gulf region.

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UAE and Saudi Arabia Cut Renewables Deals to Improve Iraq Relations

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are making a serious effort to collaborate with Iraq, but these energy projects still have a long way to go to reach fruition.

Petro Diplomacy 2021: Gulf Countries in a Net-Zero World

For the seventh consecutive year, AGSIW convened its Petro Diplomacy conference.

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Low-Carbon Energy in Iran

Iran’s renewable energy potential is sizeable and underdeveloped, and it provides an opportunity for more fruitful international cooperation.

The Future of Renewable and Low Carbon Energy in the Middle East and North Africa

On May 19, AGSIW hosted a discussion on the transition to renewable and low carbon energy in the Middle East and North Africa.

Petro Diplomacy 2020

For the sixth consecutive year, AGSIW convened its Petro Diplomacy conference, this year virtually.

What Are the Prospects for Natural Gas in the Transition to a Lower Carbon World?

The coronavirus pandemic has delivered an unprecedented shock to the global natural gas market.

The Geopolitics of Oil and Gas and U.S.-Gulf Arab Relations

As part of the sixth annual Petro Diplomacy conference, AGSIW hosted a virtual panel discussion on the geopolitics of oil.

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What BP’s Claim of an End to Peak Oil Demand Means for Gulf Producers

Gulf oil producers need to show some urgency and establish a strategy compatible with a carbon-neutral world.

After Agreement to Cut Production, What’s Next for Oil- and Gas-Producing Countries?

On April 21, AGSIW hosted a virtual panel discussion analyzing the historic deal that ended the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

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Riyadh Gathers OPEC Partners for Oil Price War with Russia

The collapse of oil prices reminds Gulf Arab states of the urgent need for economic reforms, but they lack the revenue needed to fund them.

The Collapse of OPEC+ and the Oil Price Crash

On March 10, AGSIW hosted a briefing analyzing recent tensions within the alliance of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, OPEC+, and the ensuing oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

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Massive Gas Find Spurs UAE’s Pursuit of Self-Sufficiency

The Jebel Ali find promises reduced import bills, improved security of supply, and more gas to boost the economy but will require some clever technical and commercial work to make full use of it.

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Protracted Negotiations Yield Solution to Saudi-Kuwaiti Neutral Zone Dispute

The end of the dispute will add little or no oil output immediately, but it does restore some spare capacity, and resolves one of the breaches in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

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Global Oil Stocks Mitigate Market Impact of Saudi Attacks

Despite cutting more than half of Saudi Arabia’s current crude oil production, the market response to the attacks on Saudi oil facilities has been muted.

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Aramco, Ministry Reshuffle Highlight Role of Oil Giant in Saudi Economic Transformation

To be effective, Saudi Arabia needs to keep its oil sector healthy while invigorating the other value-creating parts of the economy.

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Aramco’s Pickup of SABIC Suggests Diversification is Losing Steam

The “back-to-basics” economic strategy now underway in the region represents a partial retreat, or at least a refocusing, from the ambitious diversification goals of past years.

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Khashoggi Death Looms over Saudi Economic Reform Agenda

While pursuing long-term economic reform and diversification, Saudi Arabia needs to show that the kingdom is an attractive, business-friendly place; yet recent moves have worried investors over the business environment, and raised some concerns over the impact on oil policy.

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Saudi Arabia Shelves SoftBank Solar Effort, Reflecting Challenges with Megaprojects

Saudi Arabia’s decision to delay a $200 billion solar power project with Japan’s SoftBank casts doubt on the future of the kingdom’s solar energy initiative.

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Iran Sanctions Add Uncertainty to Shaky Oil Market

The U.S. decision to abandon the nuclear deal with Iran is bad news for crude oil importers, good news for exporters, and complicated news for those with more entwined relations with Tehran.

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Oil Producers Agree to Increase Supply, for Now

Mana al-Otaiba, former oil minister of the United Arab Emirates, shared a poem with OPEC at its Vienna meeting last week.

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Reform Fatigue in Gulf Energy?

Grand reform plans underway in the Gulf region, typified by Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Program and Vision 2030, give an impression of fast movement.