Encouraging Natural Gas Exploration in Developing Countries

Significant distinctions that exist between crude oil and natural gas compel that separate terms for gas be included in petroleum agreements. Fiscal terms, production shares and cost recovery are, like oil, important economic considerations in gas agreements. However, unlike oil agreements, other economic terms will also need to receive attention because gas agreements need to give explicit recognition to the process for commercializing the gas discovery.     

Financing energy development in the 1990s

Energy finance has resurfaced as a major issue in energy and energy policy debates. These concerns arise from the recent dismal performance of the private oil industry, and the growing financial demands of the former Soviet Union and other emerging markets. These growing financial imbalances are seen as jeopardizing the continued smooth growth of the world's petroleum industry. However, this paper stresses that the financial difficulties being experienced by publicly held oil companies are due, primarily, to the current economic recession. As economic growth recovers, and owing to recent substantial cost reductions, the balance sheets of the private oil industry will improve. Among state energy companies, recent structural and financial reforms mean that such companies will be able to retain more cash flow than was true historically. Moreover, many national oil companies are again able to access funds on international financial markets and generally at increasingly attractive spreads. And finally, there is the growing importance of financial innovation that is already having a positive impact on the level and pace of petroleum development worldwide.     

ASPECTS OF PETROLEUM TRANSPORT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Dramatic changes in the institutional structure of the international oil industry in recent years have created new responsibilities and opportunities for developing countries in petroleum transport. The article discusses the prospects for changes in the ownership/control pattern of seaborne oil movements and the need for both oil producing and oil importing developing countries to pursue national plans to acquire shipping tonnage and expertise, without being deterred by the present depressed conditions of the world shipping industry. Drawing from the experience in India, it deals with some features and problems of petroleum transport by sea, pipeline, rail and road. It stresses the importance of co-operation among developing countries through common operation of deep-water terminals and large size tankers to optimise transport costs.     

Seabed resources and international law

This article outlines the problems related to the exploitation and allocation of undersea resources. The nature and accessibility of undersea petroleum supplies and metalliferous nodules are described in terms of the existing and prospective future economic constraints. Since the majority of such resources lie outside national jurisdictions, their ownership has recently become a major source of international conflict. The character of that conflict is explained, and the prospective solutions under international law are identified. Unilateral action on the part of countries possessing the requisite technologies to exploit these resources is viewed as the most probable near-term outlook, even though it may not satisfy very many aspects of international equity.     

The World Bank and Petroleum Development in the Third World

The issues that arise between state sovereignty over natural resources and the desire of the State to finance the development of its petroleum resources from external sources are briefly examined. The problem is particularly acute for the least developed countries. It is suggested that financing obtained from international agencies such as the World Bank, may provide a means for such countries to maintain full sovereignty over their petroleum resources and at the same time obtain needed financing. To this end the petroleum lending activities of the World Bank are examined both in terms of policy and in terms of the financial resources available. A special lending facility to help underwrite financial risk of petroleum exploration in the least developed countries is proposed.     

意大利石油天然气工业及环境保护

论述了意大利及其他欧盟国家的石油天然气防大学工业及环境保护的基本概况,对我国石油企业环保工作提出了建议。意大利及其他欧盟国家社会和经济平衡发展,自然资源利用与保护并重。自然保护区的环境保护法律法规健全,健康、安全、环保已成为政府、公民和企业的共同理念和行动。我国的石油企业应学习意大利等国的经验和做法,在进行工程建设和生产时,应将开发利用经济资源和保护自然资源并重的理念贯穿始终。遵守法律,在工作实际中加强对自然环境的保护。     

Petroleum prospects and the need for international cooperation

A review of the world energy situation prior to the Persian Gulf War of 1990-91 shows that periods of oil price instability have distorted the decision-making process. During periods of high prices, investments were made in uneconomic energy sources and in periods of low prices few investments were made at all. To create a rational investment climate, international cooperation between consumers and producers of petroleum is essential. Such cooperation in the form of a forum could help to stabilize prices and assure that the economic decisions needed to meet future demand would be made in a secure framework.     

孤东油田含油污泥现状及处理技术

含油污泥是油田开发过程中的重要污染源,孤东油田目前对含油污泥主要采用自然干化填埋处理法。为了更好地回收原油,提高环境效益和经济效益,实验用离心分离法处理含油污泥,结果表明:使用该技术使油回收率可以达到80%以上。当含油量达到一定值时,会产生明显的经济、环境及社会效益。     

International oil market – new directions

This article focuses on changes in the international petroleum industry during the past 20 years and examines some major trends, especially since the oil price collapse of 1986. The resumption of rapid increases in oil demand since 1986 in the developed market economies and the developing world has already led to a pronounced production shift to OPEC member countries where output increased by 6.6 million barrels per day or, 37% since 1985. Cutbacks in petroleum investments in non-OPEC countries are likely to result in even more dependence on the vast proved oil reserves of OPEC. However, the gap between peak output and sustainable production capacities in OPEC has narrowed and there is an urgent need for sizeable investments to expand capacities. Such investment programmes are already being implemented by transnational oil corporations in countries such as Indonesia and Nigeria where the companies had retained equity participation. In other countries such as Iraq and Venezuela where oil operations had been nationalized, transnational oil corporations are being invited to participate in new arrangements for oil production. New arrangements are also being considered in Eastern Europe and the USSR. New understandings, dialogue and cooperation between oil-consuming and producing countries will be necessary for the security of investments, supplies and markets in this process. The unanswered question is whether such cooperation can be achieved in time in order to avoid yet another energy crisis.     

石油企业管理创新问题探讨

随着市场竞争的日益激烈，石油企业要在市场全球化和经济一体化的国际竞争中求得生存与发展，最重要的是要在企业层面进行管理创新。简述了管理创新的内涵和必要性，分析了国内石油企业管理创新的现状，并指出管理创新亟需解决的诸多问题。在调查研究基础上提出了石油企业管理创新的重点和基本途径，指出管理的新生力量在于不断创新，管理创新是企业生存和发展的主题，这对提高石油企业管理创新的能力和水平有一定的指导意义。     

石油石化企业面临的低碳发展挑战和机遇

在简要介绍低碳经济的概念和内涵的基础上,指出了低碳经济对我国经济发展的意义。从石油天然气勘探开发、炼油与化工和油气储运三个方面,简要分析了我国石油石化企业的碳足迹,列举了石油石化企业温室气体主要排放源。结合石油石化行业的特点和当前国内外形势,从多个方面分析、阐述了石油石化企业面临的低碳经济挑战和机遇。最后,从低碳经济发展时机、发展规划、与环境保护工作的关系、科技投入、能力建设、发展重点等方面,对石油石化企业低碳经济的发展提出了看法和建议。     

Potential use of oil shale for direct production of power in Jordan

Up until the present, Jordan has relied almost exclusively on imported petroleum for its primary energy requirements. Encouraged by emerging technologies and recent fossil fuel discoveries, Jordanians are seriously examining exploitation of their own indigenous energy resources to meet projected mid- and long-term power requirements. The most prominent of the known resources is oil shale. This report addresses the oil shale-for-power-production option in Jordan. Under consideration are 20 MW and 50 MW demonstration units and a 400 MW commercial-scale plant. The report focuses on three areas: (i) the engineering feasibility of using Jordan's oil shale in a circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) boiler; (ii) environmental aspects of the proposed oil shale-for-power plants(s); and (iii) the economic feasibility of the proposed plant(s). The results could be useful for other low- to middle-income countries considering oil shale as an option for power production.     

Use of retired oil and gas platforms for fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico

Petroleum resources are declining on the continental shelf and will, eventually, result in the loss of ~?30,000 jobs in related industries. Retired oil and gas platforms could be redeployed to culture fish and employ citizens in coastal areas. The Energy Policy Act 2005 Section 388 of Public Law [PL] 109-58 30 CFR 285.1000 Subpart J encourages the use of the retired structures for alternate uses. At present, there are no fishermen currently taking advantage of this legislation. We suggest amending existing laws to improve the likelihood that retired platforms are used to culture fish and invertebrates. In the future, the abandoned oil and gas infrastructure could also be used to recover stranded petroleum and reserves located in deeper horizons.     

稠油废水及油性废渣处理技术

克拉玛依油田的稠油废水及油性废渣的有效治理,一直是困扰油田的技术难题。为了解决这一难题,利用专效化学药剂使废水内含的油性杂质产生中和、破乳、架桥、絮凝等反应形成絮凝胶体,通过机组的加压、加气、混匀、旋流、释放、气浮、分离、阻截等物理作用,加速药剂与杂质的反应过程,将其从水体中分离出来,达到净化水质的目的。对油性废渣,加入还原剂在室温以上进行充分搅拌,产生还原反应,分离成原油和铝（铁）离子水溶液。该项技术经过三年多的实践与探索,在机组性能、运行费用、作业条件等方面,取得了满意的效果,特别是油渣回收处理不仅消除了二次污染,填补了国内技术空白,而且具有明显的环境效益与经济效益。     

Environmental management in resource-rich Alberta, Canada: first world jurisdiction, Third World analogue?

Economic growth is frequently touted as a cure for environmental ills, particularly for those in Third World countries. Here we examine that paradigm in a case study of Alberta, Canada, a wealthy, resource-rich province within a wealthy nation. Through provincial-scale datasets, we examine the increasing pressures of the forest, petroleum, and agricultural industries upon the ecosystems of Alberta within management, economic, and political contexts. We advance the thesis that economic activity leads to environmental degradation unless ecosystem-based management is integrated into economic decision making. Agricultural lands cover 31.7%, and forest management areas leased to industry cover 33.4% of Alberta; both continue to increase in extent. The rate of logging (focused on old-growth by government policy) continues a decades-long exponential rise. Current Alberta annual petroleum production is 52.5 million m3 crude oil and 117 billion m3 of gas. As of early 1999, there were approximately 199,025 oil and gas wells and a conservative total of approximately 1.5-1.8 million km of seismic lines in Alberta. Fire occurrence data indicate no downward trends in annual area burned by wildfire, which may be characterized as driven by climate and inherently variable. When logging and wildfire are combined, the annual allowable cut in Alberta is unsustainable, even when only timber supply is considered and the effects of expanding agriculture and oil and gas activities are ignored. Ecosystem degradation in Alberta is pervasive and contrasts prominently with a high standard of living. A wealth of ecological data exists that indicates current resource-based economic activities are non-sustainable and destructive of ecosystem health yet these data are not considered within the economic decision making process. Given the complex, compounded, and increasing ecosystem perturbations, a future of unpleasant ecological surprises is likely. We conclude with tentative predictions as to where current trends in Alberta may lead if decisions biased against ecosystems continue.     

PETROLEUM EXPLORATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT ITS FINANCING

Although the rate of petroleum produced per foot drilled is much greater in the developing regions of the world, levels of petroleum exploration activities in the these areas are much lower than in the United States. Although exploration levels in the developing countries might have been expected to rise after the 1973/74 price increase, they actually tended to decrease. Classification of the developing countries in terms of the levels of exploration and development they have attained reveals that the greater part of the area with good petroleum potential (57 per cent of non-OPEC countries) is comprised of countries where significant exploration has already taken place. There is a need for international assistance to increase exploration levels in the developing countries. A schedule of priorities for various forms of international assistance is suggested.     

Economic rent : Incidence in selected metals and minerals

The magnitude of the ‘economic rent’ and its distribution among producing countries, mineral exploitation companies and consumers has become a dominant issue in national and international policy formulation, but the difficulties in measuring the rent add to the problems of determining its equitable distribution. This paper examines the nature of the rent and estimates its incidence in bauxite, copper, iron ore, phosphate rock, tin and petroleum. Rents were found to be low for bauxite and iron ore. Bauxite, phosphates and petroleum producers have increased their share of the rent, though this trend now seems to be reversing for bauxite and phosphates. Only in tin, and to a lesser extent petroleum, have the exporting countries captured significant shares in total rent. Otherwise, the rent is largely concentrated at the processing stage, which suggests that processing plant would have to shift to the producing countries if they are to claim a larger share.     

Natural gas pricing policies in Southeast Asia

The very dynamic economies of Southeast Asia have recently been experiencing a rapid increase in energy demand. Parallel to this development, there has been an increase in the utilization of indigenous natural gas resources. This article reviews gas-pricing policies in the region, which partly explain the rise in gas utilization. Although diverse, energy pricing policies in Southeast Asia address the common objective of enhancing domestic gas production and utilization.
The article concludes that a more rational gas-pricing policy framework is emerging in the region. In global terms, gas pricing in the region tends to converge in a market-related framework, despite the many different pricing objectives of individual countries, and the predominance of non-economic pricing objectives in certain countries (especially gas-rich nations). Specifically, governments have been flexible enough to follow global trends and initiate changes in contractual agreements (pricing and profit-sharing), giving oil companies more favourable terms, and encouraging continued private investment in gas development. At the same time, promotional pricing has also been used to increase utilization of gas, through set prices and adjusted taxes achieving a lower price level compared to substitute fuels.
For an efficient gas-pricing mechanism, refinements in the pricing framework should be undertaken, as demand for gas approaches existing and/or forecast production capacities.     

The new economic order and world mineral production and trade

World mineral production is dominated by the developed countries — the developing countries dominate production of only tin, cobalt, bauxite, and petroleum. This production pattern is largely the result of historical, political, and economic factors, and is not likely to change radically in the next decade. Apart from petroleum, there seems to be little opportunity for the formation of mineral-producer cartels, although there is considerable scope for constructive producer-consumer agreements. Given the pattern of world mineral production and trade, the developed countries would on the whole benefit more than the developing countries from price increases. The most acute present need is for new means of financing exploration and development of mineral deposits in the developing countries, and for means of redressing the worst imbalances between rich and poor nations outside of the commodity arena.     

Utilization of Shales for Power Generation and Processing: Method of Producing Power-generation and Engine Fuels

This paper describes a method for the thermal processing of fine-grained oil shales in order to extract from them petroleum products. The process, called the 'Galoter' process combines oil shale fines with a solid heat carrier and makes possible the extraction of petroleum from oil shales which cannot be processed by any other method. The Galoter process is applicable to many oil shale deposits.