Introduction, issue 88

Energy subsidies have been a core policy in many parts of the world, typically aimed at achieving broader welfare and development objectives. Yet, in recent years a growing number of countries – Indonesia, Nigeria and Iran being some examples – have begun to reform their domestic energy pricing systems, in particular for fossil fuels and electricity. Part of the reason for this trend lies in the oil market, where higher prices since the early 2000s have rendered energy imports, and the mounting fiscal burden of subsidies that level the gap between international and domestic prices, ever more expensive for governments. But criticism of subsidies has also sprung from what increasingly many observers see as the ineffectiveness of many current subsidy systems in achieving their declared policy goals, such as promoting universal energy access and industrial value-added growth. Issues such as unequal access, demand growth in emerging economies, and the sustainable long-term use of energy resources additionally feature in this debate – reason enough for this special edition of the Oxford Energy Forum