The United States and the European Union this year took a step they had long resisted, imposing trade sanctions to choke off Iran’s lifeblood: oil revenue. Iran’s output has fallen since the latest sanctions took effect, but OPEC has made up for it as Iraq and Libya came back online. Today’s graph shows oil output and the percent change vs. OPEC.

Read the full Special Report: Inside the West’s economic war with Iran.

What is the outlook for the energy industry as it evolves in the face of economic, environmental and market pressures, and what does it mean for investors?

Confrontation across the Middle East Gulf, carnage in Syria, oil-led industrial revolution in North America, stagnating nuclear output, and a crisis of confidence in renewables have left the world’s energy industry in turmoil. Will war stop exports from the biggest oil producers? Will new shale oil and gas reserves meet the world’s fuel needs – or cook the Earth’s atmosphere forever? Will economic depression mean permanent decline for Western energy demand and the death of the European refining industry?

Reuters Global Energy and Environment Summit 2012 will host dozens of decision-makers in the energy and climate businesses to discuss the key questions facing the 21st century. The head of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), leading global industrialists, top energy traders and regulators will discuss how the energy industry is evolving in face of economic, environmental and market pressures.

Some key interviews will air live exclusively on Reuters Insider - our multimedia platform delivering relevant news, analysis and trade ideas.

Learn more about the Reuters Global Energy and Environment Summit.

Sign up now to get top Summit highlights and upcoming speakers on the go. 

Click here for the 2012 Reuters Summits Calendar.

Watch the Reuters Summits video.

Did you miss the webcast interview with the OPEC Secretary General at the Gulf Intelligence Forum?

No need to worry! If you missed the live event or would like to revisit the discussion, you can watch the video here.

You can also download the Thomson Reuters StreetEvents transcript of the interview and Q&A with the OPEC Secretary General here.

Learn about our flagship desktop Thomson Reuters Eikon for Energy. Contact us to find out more or share your feedback.

What is the future of OPEC after the collapse of talks in June? Can Iraq overcome the obstacles in its path to become a global oil power? Will the Debt crisis in Europe affect global oil demand?

Want to know? We’re offering you the opportunity to watch and participate in a live Q&A session with OPEC Secretary General His Excellency Abdalla Salem El-Badri live from The Gulf Intelligence Energy Markets Forum at the Armani Hotel in Dubai.

You can submit your questions to the Secretary General here.

September 19, 2011
09:00 Dubai/06:00 London/13:00 Beijing 

REGISTER HERE to participate in the live discussion and receive a recorded version.

A transcript of this session will be provided by Thomson Reuters StreetEvents to all registered participants. Click here to learn more about StreetEvents.

Optimism Pervades in the Face of Global Challenge

Another World Economic Forum wrapped up today at the World Congress Centre. As delegates prepared to leave the famous ski resort in Davos, Switzerland and return to the various realities of their home countries, a sense of optimism pervaded even as unfolding events in northern Africa and the Middle East tended to cloud otherwise sunny outlooks. Mark Spelman, Global Head of Strategy at Accenture, stopped by the Davos town library, where Thomson Reuters’ WEF headquarters is located for the week, to talk about what he believes have been the key developing themes at this year’s meeting.

In this video (one of three), Spelman talks about key growth trends and the reasons behind the sense of ‘cautious optimism’ at Davos 2011.

Meanwhile, following on the Jasmine Revolution (as locals have termed it) in Tunisia, the volatile situation in Egypt weighed on world markets. The West’s main energy watchdog, the IEA, called on Saturday on oil group OPEC to be flexible in the face of instability in the Arab world, saying prices could spike even because of a small disruption.

“At this moment the Suez Canal is open and there is no problem with the supply side,” the executive director of the International Energy Agency, Nobuo Tanaka, told Reuters referring to riots in Egypt.

Still, our Ben Hirschler reports the global elite, dining on Norwegian lobster and reindeer at the end of the World Economic Forum on Saturday, felt pretty chipper despite growing concerns about the inequality of the economic recovery.

While they believe the global financial and euro zone debt crises are abating, the real world intruded with a different and much more acute crisis in Egypt that made their debates about inequality and food security less theoretical than anticipated.