Unraveling the Black Market for Oil: The Complex Web of Phantom Trade and Its Reverberating Effects on Energy Security, Trade Balances, and Social Welfare

In the energy market, the black market¹ for oil embodies the ancient parable of the blind men and the elephant. Just as the blind men each touched a different part of the elephant and experienced only a fraction of its true nature, so do policymakers perceive the black market for oil through narrow lenses. However, this market, like the imposing elephant, manifests itself in diverse and multifaceted forms that demand nuanced understanding and cannot be dismissed.