G2 Energy Insights
Dr. Gülen's energy sector research spans more than 25 years and covers a wide range of topics across crude oil, natural gas, and electric power value chains. He is currently involved in the life-cycle assessment of electricity generation technologies and net social cost of electricity to consumers. The latter builds on Dr. Gülen's 2019 book, Net Social Cost of Electricity, which brings together most of his research on electricity sector restructuring and markets since the 1990s, and includes his insights into the end of competitive electricity markets in an era of energy transitions driven by a multitude of policies across various levels of government.
​
In 2021, he co-edited and co-authored with Dr. Michelle Michot Foss and Anna Mikulska, Monetizing Natural Gas in the New “New Deal” Economy, an expansive look at the recent past of future of natural gas around the world, covering the "shale gas revolution" in North America to growing LNG markets in the Asia-Pacific region and much more.
In the early 1990s, he investigated OPEC cartel behavior, oil futures trading and crude oil prices across the world. Crude oil markets and economics of upstream, midstream, and downstream investments have always been parts of his research portfolio. This background was essential in 2011 when he co-authored an extensive review of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, special reports, testimonies, and industry reporting on factors impacting the oil price trends of the 2000s for the Energy Information Administration. See EIA's tracking of drivers of oil price to get a flavor of the report.
​
Based in Houston between 1996 and 2018, he supplemented quantitative modeling skills with qualitative analyses of commercial, financial, legal and regulatory fundamentals of not only oil but also natural gas and electric power sectors. Projects funded by energy companies and grants from government agencies ensured relevance of projects to industry, policy and regulatory needs.
Electricity market restructuring and energy transitions supported research on legal and regulatory frameworks for competitive electricity markets, dispatch modeling to investigate the future role of gas-fired and renewable electric power generation, and changes to energy and capacity market designs.
For example, see Chapter 2 in Electricity Restructuring: The Texas Story.
Capacity building and technical assistance projects in diverse geographies, covering five continents and tens of countries, were instrumental in appreciating the commonalities and local peculiarities of energy projects. Importantly, these experiences instilled an understanding of the scope and deleterious impacts of energy poverty in most of the world. Resulting research on the economics of Caspian oil and gas export options, energy security in Southeast Asia, and the economics of natural gas in West Africa was published in various media, including key industry publications and peer-reviewed journals.
​
Between 2011 and 2018, he worked as part of interdisciplinary teams to assess U.S. shale gas and tight oil resources at the Bureau of Economic Geology. He presented on shale gas at URTeC and many conferences and special workshops around the world. He co-authored many peer-reviewed articles reporting on the findings of this highly-regarded Bureau research consortium.
Complementing the resource economics research was the assessment of demand for natural gas in power generation, petrochemicals, and LNG exports. See a video of Dr. Gülen's talk at the UT-Austin Energy Symposium on global LNG trends.
​
In 2014, Dr. Gülen prepared an expert report on upstream module design considerations for the Energy Information Administration. A spin-off was an article on the importance of midstream in resource development, especially for natural gas.
He was part of the Full Cost of Electricity, an interdisciplinary initiative of the University of Texas Energy Institute. He co-authored several publications. He also participated in another interdisciplinary project of UTEI, Energy Infrastructure of the Future.
​
A complete list of research projects and publications can be found in Dr. Gülen's CV. To learn more email.