The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) has received the 'Best Energy Research Institute Award' at the 8th Opec International Seminar held in Vienna on July 5-6, 2023.

The award recognises the centre’s influential role in producing impactful research that shapes public discourse on critical energy-related issues.

Furthermore, Axel Pierru, Acting Vice-President of Knowledge and Analysis, also accepted the Opec award for the ‘Best Energy Research Paper' on behalf of his co-authors Hossa Almutairi and James Smith, for their research on oil market stability.

These awards mark the first time that Opec has bestowed such honours.

Commenting on the awards, Haitham Al Ghais, Opec Secretary General, said: “The Center and the research paper’s authors are fully deserving of these two awards against some extremely stiff competition. KAPSARC is today a globally renowned centre of research excellence for energy and sustainability issues, and a partner for many other research institutes and policy organisations worldwide. It is the embodiment of high quality, innovative, collaborative and objective analysis aimed at finding solutions to our global energy challenges.”

Fahad Alajlan, Kapsarc President, who received the award, said: “We are honoured to receive these two awards and express our gratitude to Opec for recognising our research achievements.

'These accolades highlight our position as an advisory think tank that provides evidence-based research to the international community and policy advice for Saudi decision makers. KAPSARC combines industry and academic expertise with a Middle Eastern perspective to tackle global energy and sustainability challenges.”

Kapsarc’s award-winning research paper offered research insights on market stability and the role of Opec.

These findings are published in four journal papers: ‘Opec's impact on oil price volatility: The role of spare capacity’ (2018), ‘Opec's pursuit of market stability’ (2020), ‘The value of Opec's spare capacity to the oil market and global economy’ (2021), and ‘Oil market stabilisation: The performance of Opec and its Allies’ (2023).

Using market data and economic modeling, the authors show that the spare capacity policy pursued by Opec has substantially reduced the volatility of the oil price.

Pierru emphasised that their research highlights Kapsarc's commitment to producing innovative research that informs policymaking.