War and peace in the name of oil and gas. Why energy security matters for the OSCE

Oil and natural gas are strategic commodities, for it is not the law of supply and demand that determines the price in the short run, but geopolitics. This has been the case ever since these fossil fuels started to dominate our daily energy mix. High expectations are placed on a gradual transformation to other forms of energy for the sake of reducing CO2 emissions.

Natural gas is often called the 'bridging energy' from a fossil age to a new era. However, we should not believe that renewable energy will liberate us from geopolitical interdependence.

Oil is essential for the production of synthetics, and photovoltaic cells need commodities like lithium and iridium, which are also scarce raw materials. Some major reserves are believed to be found in the OSCE area. So the topic of energy security will continue to be of vital concern, even if we manage to fundamentally change the energy mix, a rather improbable development in the short run.