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Robin Mills is founder of Qamar Energy, established to meet the need for regionally based Middle East energy insight. He is an expert on energy strategy and economics, and has been described by Foreign Policy magazine as “one of the energy world’s great minds.” Prior to this, Mills led major consulting assignments for the EU in Iraq. He also consulted for a variety of international oil companies on Middle East business development, integrated gas and power generation and renewable energy.

Mills worked for a decade at Shell, concentrating on new business development in the Middle East. He subsequently worked for six years with Dubai Holding and the Emirates National Oil Company, better known as Enoc, where he advanced business development efforts in the Middle East energy sector.

He is a fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, a senior fellow of the Iraq Energy Institute and previously a non-resident fellow for energy at the Brookings Institution. He is currently a columnist at The National and Bloomberg, and the author of “Sunrise in the Desert,” on solar energy in the Middle East, and “The Myth of the Oil Crisis” and “Capturing Carbon.”

Mills holds a first in geology from the University of Cambridge, and speaks Arabic, Farsi, Dutch and Norwegian.

Articles By

Drugs and Politics Keep Syrian Exports Out of Iraq By Haid Haid - Mar 24, 2023

Syrian freight trucks containing everything from food to clothes destined for Iraq are languishing at Al Qaim border crossing despite a deal having been reached to settle a long-running dispute more than two months ago. Iraqi and Syrian officials began talks to fully reopen the crossing in 2021, finally reaching an agreement on January 5 this year to allow Syrian freight trucks to enter Iraq through … Continue reading “Drugs and Politics Keep Syrian Exports Out of Iraq”

AI Grows More Powerful While We Become More Predictable By Joseph Dana - Mar 23, 2023

With any groundbreaking new technology, the pace of adoption climbs quickly. Over the past two decades, new platforms and tools, from the iPhone to TikTok, have seen progressively faster adoption rates. The adoption rate of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) large language model owned by OpenAI, is unlike anything we have ever seen. Within five days of … Continue reading “AI Grows More Powerful While We Become More Predictable”

Iran-Saudi deal showcases Xi’s alternative world order By Yun Sun - Mar 22, 2023

Diplomats and analysts around the world are still trying to decipher China’s stunning diplomatic coup in brokering a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Other than the emergence of China with a new and unprecedented role as peacemaker in the Middle East, the most apparent takeaway for the Americans is that the United States is losing its influence in the region … Continue reading “Iran-Saudi deal showcases Xi’s alternative world order”

The Quest for Green Air Travel By Robin Mills - Mar 19, 2023

An airliner over Dubai’s coast, a single-engine helicopter, and a Japan-Abu Dhabi flight: sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) has proven capable of powering air travel. But can supply rise and cost fall fast enough to make SAF a major part of the aviation industry’s journey to net-zero emissions? While aviation is responsible for about 2 percent of global … Continue reading “The Quest for Green Air Travel”

Food Insecurity Looms After Turkey’s Earthquakes By Alexandra de Cramer - Mar 17, 2023

Turkey’s economy was weak well before February’s devastating earthquakes, but damages to the country’s agricultural sector, one of its most important industries, could push Turkey over the edge. With the growing season fast approaching, farmers in the earthquake zone need immediate assistance to stave off nationwide food shortages. Food-related consequences of the disaster have already surfaced. Within a week … Continue reading “Food Insecurity Looms After Turkey’s Earthquakes”