Introduction

Dr. Thomas R. Stauffer, the widely respected energy analyst, author, educator and consultant, died on Friday, 11 March 2005, after a long illness. He had only recently celebrated his 70th birthday.

Dr. Stauffer was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who developed his interest in energy while preparing his doctorate at Harvard University in the 1960s. Tom, as he was known to his many friends and colleagues, subsequently taught at Harvard, at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy, and at Georgetown University.

His prodigious professional writings spanned such subjects as the measurement of corporate rates-of-return; the economics of gas-based industrialization in the Gulf; the impact of tax systems on oil exploration incentives; the effects of tariff designs on pipeline economics; the politics of water in the Middle East; and the economic cost to the United States of its Middle East policies.

Some of Dr. Stauffer's writings reflected his frequent involvement as an expert in arbitrations. Among his oft-cited papers are those dealing with risk and hydrocarbon property evaluation; regression models and their limitations in litigation; and the valuation of expropriated assets.

In addition to his interest in energy economics, Dr. Stauffer had an abiding interest in the culture and traditions of the Middle East. In the 1960s, he and his wife Ilse traveled with the Qashqai nomads and made several films about their lifestyle and rug-making. Dr. Stauffer donated these films to the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Stauffer was also a serious stamp collector with an odd specialization: stamps overprinted and re-issued by occupation forces or revolutionary regimes, particularly in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Central Asia.

OPEC honored Dr. Stauffer last autumn for his lifelong work on the petroleum industry. Tom was an early visitor to and friend of the organization when its first headquarters was established in Geneva. His affiliation continued after OPEC moved to Vienna, where Tom was often invited to lecture.

Dr. Stauffer is survived by his wife, three children and one grandson.