Turning Oil Into Water : Water security in the Middle East and North Africa

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between oil supply and water security in the Middle East and North Africa. The aim is to see if countries without oil have a harder time mitigating water scarcity, as well as if countries with oil can be expected to become more vulnerable when oil becomes scarcer. This is important considering water security has impacts on many issues, such as political stability and food security. The study looks at panel data for 4 years between 1997- 2012 in a regression with Year Fixed Effects and finds that there is a positive correlation between oil supply and water supply. The study then uses this result to look qualitatively at three countries (Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia) that are diverse with respect to oil supply, and the results show that oil mainly impacts water security through desalination capabilities, due to oil fueling these facilities. The results also show that desalination may have led to excessive use in some countries, and that oil has allowed a higher consumption of water than is sustainable in the long run. This is significant because it has implications on future water security in the region, and therefore possibly on issues such as political stability.