Alexander Dodge

My research focuses on conceptualising and accounting for the emergence, transformation, and instability hydrocarbon production networks in the global economy. I am particularly interested in the role of nation-states in constituting the conditions for stability and change in hydrocarbon production networks.

I currently work as a postdoctoral research associate on the ESRC-funded project: Fraying Ties? Networks, Territory and Transformation in the UK Oil Sector project. The project will undertake the first systematic analysis of the evolution and ongoing transformation of the UK’s strategic position in global oil production networks. Findings from the project will foster greater understanding of the trajectories and consequences of transformation in the UK oil sector at a key moment in its evolution.

Before starting at Durham University, I received a PhD in Geography from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. My PhD research studied the changing political-economy of global natural gas trade and the implications for energy development in Southeast Asia. Specifically, I studied the evolution of relationships between liquefied natural gas (LNG) production networks, financial markets, and the regulatory capacity of nation-states over natural gas markets. Based on empirical case studies in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, I found that while the political-economy of natural gas is evolving, there are several contradictions and uncertainties that point to instabilities in global markets which may be consequential for long-term investments in natural gas infrastructure, particularly in Southeast Asia.

Research Interests: Global Production Networks within the Energy Sector, Geographies of Energy Transitions and Governance, Geographies of Power, and Assemblage Thinking and New Materialism.