Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Oil and petrochemical sector'

In the recent past a number of technologies have been imported into The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This experience has affirmed the conviction that technology can make an invaluable contribution to the growth of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, in doing so, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, like other nations, faces some questions of possible obstacles, trials and errors during the course of industrial development and technology transfer, that can be addressed by utilising science and technology efficiently to develop many sectors, improve output of industry, develop standards and -status of national manpower and its utilisation. This study analyses issues related to successful technology transfer in Saudi industry As such, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between industrial development and technology transfer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the important role that modem technology can play in development of the oil and petrochemicals sectors. The aims are to provide a better understanding of the linkage between technology transfer and industrial development strategies in general, with special emphasis on the performance of the Saudi oil and petrochemical industry in particular. As such, to avoid failures on technology transfer, it becomes an imperative to analyse technology transfer by considering various approaches, as follows: Technology and industry is a key to future growth in Saudi Arabia - The main objective here is to locate, attract and keep industry. The concept of technology and industry deals with role of technology and the dynamics of Saudi's industry environment to excel in markets. Strategy at the functional level - this relates to the various activities assigned to different departments in the organisational structure. The concept means that all functions must be conducted in accordance with industry, technology and strategy. Strategy and technology - this means how to transfer an already existing technology to Saudi industry. Strategy for research and development - The concept deals mainly with how to plan, finance and implement R&D for products, security, environmental protection etc. Where to draw the line between general and specific objectives in R&D. The chosen method to study these issues is case study analysis of SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) and Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Company). SABIC has been established for two main strategic objectives that go together in two parallel lines. The first objective aims to develop human resources and to turn them into a trained category that has the capability to transfer, assimilate and develop the most sophisticated technologies. The second objective aims to develop the natural resources and convert them to industrial products, helping to diversify the domestic income sources and open iii the doors for building up processing industries to satisfy the local and external market requirements. The first case study (SABIC) provides an overview of the phenomenon of technology transfer to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For comparative purposes the second case study involves a case study of Saudi Arabia's largest oil firm (Saudi Aramco). These two case studies have been selected for their: i role in technology transfer in Saudi oil and petrochemical sectors, ii approach and access to greater resources in technology transfer, iii exposure of firm behaviour in the Saudi industrial sector, iv contribution to Saudi economic development and realisation of additional income through improved operations. The two case studies, typical of large companies not only in Saudi Arabia but also in the world, will address the obstacles in learning, committing and increasing performance through technology transfer. These cases highlight a range of choices available in technology transfer, which provide a wide range of means for technological learning through transfer. They offer different opportunities for further innovation and technology development. Although Saudi Aramco and SABIC claim 80 percent and 73 percent " Saudisation", respectively, the survey indicates that native Saudis need more participation and involvement in technology process in order to raise their technological know-how. As a result of this study, a common approach to technology transfer into Saudi Aramco and SABIC may be developed and applied by industry, per its requirements to address existing and prospective problems. At present Saudi Arabia has the capacity to absorb new technologies in its growing industrial sector. This is required to meet its desired objectives of becoming industrialised and self-sufficient in required technologies. The real test of effective technology transfer in this study is the need to build Saudi local technological capability supported by an effective learning strategy. The ultimate aim is to expand the scope of this study beyond the academic level towards the practical challenges of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of inward technology transfer for future Saudi industrial development.

L'une des définitions les plus anciennes et les plus importantes attribuées à la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (RSE) est celle donnée par Howard Bowen, qui se réfère au père de la RSE pour son livre « historique » de 1953, Social Responsibilities of the Businessman « The obligations of entrepreneurs to ces politiques, de prendre ces décisions ou de poursuivre les lignes d'action souhaitées en fonction des objectifs et des valeurs de notre société » (Bowen, 1953a).Plus tard, (Carroll, 1979a) s'est concentré plutôt sur des obligations fermes envers certaines responsabilités envers la société qui s'étendaient au-delà des domaines économiques et juridiques pour inclure le bien-être des employés et de la communauté, les besoins politiques et éducatifs de la société et le service pour améliorer la qualité de la vie humaine et définir La RSE en tant que : "La responsabilité sociale des entreprises englobe les attentes économiques, juridiques, éthiques et discrétionnaires que la société a des organisations à un moment donné". De nos jours, la RSE est reconnue au niveau mondial, national, régional et même local, principalement comme une « contribution volontaire au développement durable » (Jurkowska-Gomulka et al., 2021). Le concept volontaire de RSE considère la RSE comme un engagement des entreprises envers la durabilité qui va au-delà des exigences légales.Pourtant, la RSE est devenue un élément crucial du plan stratégique d'une entreprise et une réelle préoccupation pour de nombreuses entreprises industrielles (Widad et al., 2021). En conséquence, plusieurs organisations ont mis en place différentes initiatives pour encourager les entreprises à adopter des démarches RSE, telles que la Coopération économique pour le développement, le Pacte mondial des Nations Unies, l'Organisation internationale du travail et la Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (Shehabi et al., 2016). Toutes ces initiatives ont contribué à l'élaboration d'un cadre RSE unifié connu sous le nom de norme ISO 26000 publiée par l'Organisation internationale de normalisation (ISO) en 2010 (Popa & Dabija, 2019). ISO 26000 définit la RSE comme : la responsabilité d'une organisation vis-à-vis des impacts de ses décisions et activités sur la société et l'environnement, par un comportement transparent et éthique en tenant compte des attentes des parties prenantes (ISO, 2010). Un comportement socialement responsable des entreprises est aujourd'hui attendu par un large éventail d'entités : principalement les consommateurs, mais aussi les partenaires commerciaux, les sous-traitants et les pouvoirs publics (Haseeb et al., 2019). Dans ces circonstances, la RSE n'est plus volontaire, mais devient un devoir moral voire légal fort (certains groupes d'entreprises sont légalement tenus de déclarer leurs activités non financières dans des documents accessibles au public). Les entreprises sont de plus en plus conscientes des dangers que leurs activités peuvent faire peser sur la planète et sur la société à l'avenir. L'entreprise consciente (MC) représente un état d'esprit d'entreprise soucieux de la société, de la communauté et de l'environnement qui se manifeste de manière comportementale dans la modération des activités qui sont à la fois défaitistes et non durables sur le plan environnemental
One of the oldest and most prominent definitions attributed to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is that given by Howard Bowen who refers to as the father of CSR for his “landmark” 1953 book, Social Responsibilities of the Businessman “The obligations of entrepreneurs to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to pursue desired lines of action in terms of the aims and values of our society” (Bowen, 1953a).Later, (Carroll, 1979a) focused rather on firm obligations to certain responsibilities to society that extended beyond the economic and legal domains to include employee and community welfare, the political and educational needs of society and service to improve the quality of human life and defined CSR as: “Social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time”. Nowadays, CSR is recognized at the global, national, regional, and even local level, mostly as a “voluntary contribution to sustainable development” (Jurkowska-Gomulka et al., 2021). The voluntary concept of CSR views CSR as firms’ commitment to sustainability that is beyond the legal requirements.However, CSR is become crucial part of a company’s strategy plan and a real concern of many industrial companies (Widad et al., 2021). As a result, several organizations have implemented different initiatives to encourage companies to adopt CSR approaches, such as Economic Cooperation Development, United Nations Global Compact, International Labour Organisation, and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (Shehabi et al., 2016). All these initiatives have contributed to developing a unified CSR framework known as ISO 26000 standard published by the International Standard Organization (ISO) in 2010 (Popa & Dabija, 2019). ISO 26000 defines CSR as: responsibility of an organization for the impacts of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through transparent and ethical behavior by taking into account the stakeholder’s expectations (ISO, 2010). Socially responsible behavior of companies is expected nowadays by a wide scope of entities: mainly consumers, but also trading partners, contractors, and public authorities (Haseeb et al., 2019). Under these circumstances, CSR is no longer voluntary, but is becoming a strong moral or even legal duty (some groups of companies are legally obliged to report their non-financial activities in publicly available documents). Companies have become increasingly aware of the dangers that their activities can cause to the planet and to society in the future. Mindful company (MC) represents a company mindset of caring for society, community and environment which manifests behaviorally in the tempering on activities of which is both defeating and environmentally unsustainable

L'effluent liquide de la raffinerie de pétrole contient de l'anion sélénium toxique et du phénol, tandis que l'effluent gazeux contient du CO/syngas toxiques. Afin d'éliminer le phénol tout en réduisant les toxyanions de sélénia, une co-culture fongique bactérienne de Phanerochaete Chrysosporium et Delftia lacustris a été mise au point. Deux formes de co-culture de champignons et de bactéries ont été développées. Le premier concerne les bactéries et les champignons à croissance libre (co-culture en croissance suspendue), le second est la croissance de la biomasse bactérienne entourant la biomasse fongique (culture avec croissance solide). Les deux types de co-cultures bactériennes fongiques ont été incubés avec différentes concentrations de phénol à une concentration fixe de sélénite (10 mg / L). Une culture en suspension peut dégrader jusqu'à 800 mg / l de phénol et simultanément réduire de 10 mg / l de nano-Se (0) producteur de sélénite d'un diamètre d'au moins 3,58 nanomètres. Une croissance en lacet pourrait complètement décomposer 50 mg / l de phénol et de sélénite simultanément dans du nano Se (0) de diamètre minimal de 58,5 nm. Pour augmenter le CO / gaz de synthèse en utilisant la technique de bioconversion, la suspension méthanogène anaérobie a été acclimatée pour utiliser le CO comme seul substrat carboné pendant 46 jours dans un réacteur à réservoir sous agitation continue auquel du CO a été ajouté à une vitesse de 10 ml / minute. Les concentrations de métabolites les plus élevées étaient 6,18 g / l d'acide acétique, 1,18 g / l d'acide butyrique et 0,403 g / l d'acide hexanoïque. Plus tard les acides ont été métabolisés à un pH inférieur pour produire de l'alcool à des concentrations de 11,1 g / l d'éthanol, de 1,8 g / l de butanol et de 1,46 g / l d'hexanol, ce qui confirme stratégie d'enrichissement réussie. L'expérience suivante s'est concentrée sur l'absence de tungstène d'éléments en traces et de sélénium séquentiel sur une suspension précédemment modifiée au CO dans les mêmes conditions opératoires. Un gel de copolymère de N-ter-butylacrylamide in situ et de l'acide acrylique synthétisés in situ ont été utilisés pour récupérer de l'éthanol, du propanol et du butanol à partir du bouillon de fermentation synthétique. Le degré d'utilisation répétée du gel pour récupérer l'alcool a été étudié et environ 98% d'alcool a été récupéré à chaque fois
Liquid effluents of oil refinery contain toxic selenium oxyanions and phenol, while gaseous effluents contain toxic CO/syngas. To remove the phenol and simultaneously reduce the selenite oxyanions, a fungal-bacterial co-culture of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Delftia lacustris was developed. Two modes of co-cultures of the fungus and the bacterium were developed. The first being a freely growing bacterium and fungus (suspended growth co-culture), the second being the growth of the bacterial biomass encircling the fungal biomass (attached growth co-culture). Both types of fungal-bacterial co-cultures were incubated with varying concentrations of phenols with a fixed selenite concentration (10 mg/L). The suspended growth co-culture could degrade up to 800 mg/L of phenol and simultaneously reduce 10 mg/L of selenite with production of nano Se (0) having a minimum diameter of 3.58 nanometer. The attached growth co-culture could completely degrade 50 mg/L of phenol and simultaneously reduce selenite to nano Se(0) having a minimum diameter of 58.5 nm.In order to valorize the CO/syngas by bioconversion techniques an anaerobic methanogenic sludge was acclimatized to use CO as sole carbon substrate for a period of 46 days in a continuous stirred stank reactor, supplied with CO at 10 ml/min. 6.18 g/L acetic acid, 1.18 g/L butyric acid, and 0.423 g/L hexanoic acid were the highest concentrations of metabolites produced. Later, acids were metabolized at lower pH, producing alcohols at concentrations of 11.1 g/L ethanol, 1.8 g/L butanol and 1.46 g/L hexanol, confirming the successful enrichment strategy. The next experiment focused on the absence of trace element tungsten, and consecutively selenium on the previously CO acclimatized sludge under the same operating conditions. An in-situ synthesized co-polymeric gel of N-ter-butyl-acrylamide and acrylic acid was used to recover ethanol, propanol and butanol from a synthetic fermentation broth. The scope of repeated use of the gel for the alcohol recovery was investigated and every time approximately 98% alcohol was recovered

British and US oil companies set up the world's largest oil refinery transhipment complex in the Caribbean after the Suez Crisis and a technological revolution in oil tanker design in 1956. Trinidad and Tobago became one of the world's largest oil refinery and transhipment centres. In 1969 the British oil companies began to withdraw their investments and requested the nationalisation of their assets. In 1985 the US companies withdrew their investments in response to the US government's deregulation of the domestic oil industry and financial incentives to bring their investments back home. Requested nationalisation led to the state-ownership of the oil sector. The government of Trinidad set up state-owned petrochemical and iron and steel industries, with some of the world's most sophisticated technology, to utilise the country's large natural gas reserves. But by 1988 state capitalism had failed to provide the expected economic and social benefits, despite the drain on limited financial reserves and massive foreign loans. The government's reliance on the oil sector as the `prime mover' of the economy had caused sectoral and trade imbalance, high inflation, increased unemployment, currency instability, debt crisis and political instability which culminated in an attempted coup in July 1990. The root cause of the failure of state capitalism was the governments' rush to industrialise and the structure of the state petroleum enterprises. The lack of accountability and responsibility of top management and government interference led to poorly run, unprofitable industries in which government waste and corruption were common.

Olja har under det förgångna seklet varit en av industrialiseringens stöttepelare. Idag, med omfattande satsningar inom hållbar utveckling så är inverkan av oljan högt aktuellt och inom en snar framtid kan den se en påtaglig nedbringa även om det har visats att dess relevans kommer kvarstå åtminstone fram till 2040. Tidigare forskning har påvisat att fluktuationer i oljepriset är en bidragsgivare till de systematiska risker företag ställs inför dagligen. Denna studie utvidgade analysområdet genom att välja ut länder med en netto-import av olja och sortera de på den andel relativa oljetillförsel som nationen erhållit gentemot nivån av systematisk risk från oljeprisfluktuationer som företagen ställs inför. Analysen utfördes över 120 Finansiella företag i 12 europeiska länder. Det anträffades utpräglade mönster i studiens resultat som kan antyda en koppling mellan dessa variabler, men resultaten återfinns i majoritet till att inte uppnå statistisk signifikans. Vidare kan studiens modell utgöra en bas för vidare forskning inom området.

Refinery operations have been associated with a wide variety of atmospheric emissions consisting of criteria air pollutants, volatile organic components, hazardous air pollutants as well as other pollutants. With approximately 100 oil refineries in the Wider Caribbean region (WCR), hydrocarbons in this region pose significant environmental and human health risks. One of the oldest and largest refineries in the WCR is the Isla Refineriá, which is located on the island of Curaçao, and has been the basis of historical debates and conflict between the public and the local government over the environmental and human health risks. This research aims to establish baseline levels of ambient petrochemical emissions in Curaçao, specifically polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), inhalable particulate matter (PM10) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and to evaluate through comparative literature analysis and recommended public health guidelines the potential health risks in Curaçao. In addition, source elucidation of PAHs was conducted using concentration profiles, distribution profiles, binary diagnostic ratios and factor analysis. Passive air samplers with polyurethane foam collection disks (PAS-PUFs) were deployed in 2011 (n=43) and in 2014 (n=30) to measure ambient PAH concentrations. Ambient PAH concentrations ranged from 1.2 ng/m3 in 2011 and 27.3 to 660.1 ng/m3 in 2014, demonstrating no temporal differences. However, there were highly significant spatial differences, with the samples downwind of the refinery having significantly higher ambient PAH concentrations than those upwind in 2014. Source elucidation revealed the ambient PAHs were dominated by petrogenic emission sources (i.e., refinery) in the 2011 and the 2014 downwind samples, whereas the 2014 upwind locations were equally influenced by both petrogenic (i.e., refinery) and pyrogenic (i.e., vehicle emissions) sources. Available hourly, daily and monthly PM10 and SO2 measurements were downloaded from June 2010 through December 2014 from two local air monitoring stations. Concentrations of both PM10 and SO2 in Curaçao are among the highest reported globally, demonstrating an increasing trend over time and exceed current public health guidelines recommended by local and international agencies. It is plausible that the residents of Curaçao may experience health effects often associated with PM10 and SO2, however the epidemiological evidence is inadequate to infer causality between health effects and long-term exposures. Using the USEPA’s risk analysis methodology the resulting cumulative lifetime cancer risk estimates from PAH inhalation were below the level of concern (1.0 x 10-4). In contrast, by evaluating the potency adjusted concentrations relative to the most toxic compound (benzo[a]pyrene), age class (children and adults) extrapolated and site specific risks indicated levels exceeding the upper bound acceptable risk (1.0 x 10-4) by almost two orders of magnitude suggesting the need for remediation.

The issue of Japan's heavy dependence on Middle Eastern oil has attracted a lot of attention in the political and academic circles for the reason that Japan is the second biggest consumer and the largest importer of oil in the world. Consequently, any action by Japan would not only have a major impact on petroleum markets, but also on international relations, security and on the Middle East itself. In the late 1960s Japan began negotiations with Iran, her biggest oil supplier at that time, about the establishment of a petrochemical joint venture. These negotiations led to the creation of the Iran Japan Petrochemical Company (UPC) in 1973. This study examines the different reasons why the main partners, Mitsui Bussan of Japan and the National Petrochemical Company of Iran as well as their respective governments, were so interested in the idea of a joint venture. It traces the troubled history of UPC from the preliminary negotiations in 1968, through two decades which saw the Iranian Revolution and the setting up of an Islamic state, the Iran-Iraq War, and two oil crises, until its dissolution in 1990. The research reveals conflicts of interest between Japanese and Iranian motivations behind the venture, between the goals of the privately owned Mitsui Bussan and the state-run National Petrochemical Company as well as their contrasting organisational and managerial styles, which led to the failure of UPC and its eventual dissolution. Using the case of IJPC as an example, the study argues that the setting up of a joint venture of this nature was an inappropriate response to the main purposes of each nation, i.e. the Japanese desire for a stable oil supply and the Iranian desire for rapid industrialisation and transfer of technology. Finally, it suggest alternative policies through which each country could achieve its respective ambitions.

African governments commonly manage their oil wealth in ways that generate negative political and economic outcomes, and the existing literature contains convincing explanations for this trend. Yet this scholarship does not explain the instances of oil sector reform in the continent’s eight leading producers – Angola, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria and Sudan. These limited but significant efforts appear contradictory to the incentive environment assumed to prevail in these states. Furthermore, the type of reform and the level of its success vary from country to country despite some presupposed similarities. This dissertation seeks to explain both the unexpected presence and uneven-ness of oil sector reform in Africa’s oil producing states. The dissertation looks at a single country, Nigeria, and traces reform efforts in four different areas of oil sector policy in order to identify possible explanations for reform. This research led to the identification of four observations about the initiation and implementation of oil sector reform in Africa; these constitute the dissertation’s principal findings. Comparative analysis then indicates that these findings can be generalised across oil rich Africa, and that they also explain the variation exhibited in the region’s oil sector reform records. The findings argue that oil creates a structural environment in which leaders possess a “privileged agency”. This affords them an exclusive capacity to select and advance reform. Leaders choose to initiate reform for different motives, each of which contains distinct international content. “Stunted reform”, or the uneven or incomplete implementation of reform, often ensures due largely to the leader’s tendency to abandon or subvert reform so as to protect their discretionary control over channels of distribution. These tendencies increase during periods of political contestation or when leaders face short horizons. Finally, even stunted oil sector reform appears to improve the country’s governance environment.

In this study the author has critically examined the major factors which have determined investment in the Libyan upstream oil sector from its beginnings in the mid-1950s to the present. The researcher has shown that risk perceptions underlying investment decisions by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the Libyan sedimentary basins were effectively determined by their early experience and concentration on the development of oilfields and infrastructure in the Sirte basin, where the original giant discoveries were made. This meant upstream investment in the other Libyan basins such as Murzuq and Gadames, as well as the offshore basins, was severely constrained. The author has also shown the erratic and uneven development of Libyan fiscal legalisation for the upstream sector, starting with the milestone Petroleum Law N.25 of 1955 which instituted the concession system. The Libyan JVAs of the late 1960s, the nationalisation / Participation Agreements of the early 1970’s and the emergence of the extremely hostile terms of the initial Libyan Exploration and Production Agreements (EPSA I, 1974 and EPSA II, 1980) all negatively impacted Libya’s risk profile. The political fallout from the US and UN sanctions of 1986 and 1989 also meant that the EPSA III contractual terms of 1989, failed to attract the level of investment their intrinsic advantages justified. After investigating and analysing a wide range of investment risk analysis tools in the pivotal research part of the study, the author opted to utilise Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to critically evaluate the risks and rewards of the current Libyan EPSA IV with respect to both the Libyan government and the IOCs. The researcher did this by MCS modelling of three actual conventional Libyan oilfields, with high medium and small reserves, as well as three marginal fields. The author has concluded that MCS represents a valuable and versatile tool for analysing contractual risk in developing already discovered but underdeveloped Libyan oil fields.

PONTIFÍCIA UNIVERSIDADE CATÓLICA DO RIO DE JANEIRO
Esta dissertação de mestrado tem como objetivo compartilhar os resultados de uma investigação sobre as implicações estratégicas das alianças e redes de relacionamento estabelecidas no setor de downstream, área de distribuição de combustíveis, no Brasil, um dos que apresenta maior faturamento e que mais arrecada impostos no país. Primeiro, apresentamos fundamentos teóricos pertinentes à pesquisa sobre alianças e redes estratégicas, inclusive tipologias de alianças, além das teorias sobre a capacidade destas em alavancar as oportunidades e neutralizar as ameaças no nível da indústria. Além disso, foram considerados modelos conceituais e outras ferramentas para conduzir análises estratégicas pela ótica relacional, ou seja, no que se refere às alianças e redes formadas por estas. Em seguida, de acordo com a metodologia de estudo de caso de Yin, adotamos a estratégia de triangulação dos métodos. Assim, dados foram coletados por meio de investigação documental, levantamento de percepções do tipo survey e, em alguns casos, observação participativa. Com os resultados obtidos no âmbito do estudo de casos múltiplos, evidenciamos que a análise na ótica relacional, que leva em conta as implicações estratégicas das redes nas quais as empresas atuam, agrega valor às análises tradicionais, contribuindo com novos insights para a tomada de decisão estratégica dessas empresas.
This master`s dissertation has the objective of sharing the results of an investigation about the strategic implications of alliances and relationship networks established in the downstream sector, fuel distribution area, in Brazil, which earns the highest revenues and pays the highest taxes. First, we present theoretical issues pertinent to the research on alliances and strategic networks, including alliances typologies, in addition to theories on the capacities of these alliances to leverage opportunities and neutralize industry level threats. Besides that, it was considered conceptual models and other tools to conduct strategic analysis through the relational view, that is, related to the alliances and networks constituted by these. Following that, in accordance with Yin`s case study methodology, a strategic triangulation of methods was adopted. Therefore, data was collected through documental investigation, surveys of management perception and, in some cases, participative observation. With the results attained in the ambit of multiple case-studies, it was evidenced that the relational view, that is the one which takes into account strategic implications from the networks, adds value to traditional analysis, contributing with new insights on the strategic decision making of these companies.

Since 1990, interest in environmental disclosure (ED) has grown, and it is now seen as one of the most important types of social disclosure (Islam et al., 2005). This attention has not come out of the blue; as environmental costs rise year on year, it has become increasingly important to disclose these costs, as they can significantly impact upon the decisions made by the users of financial statements. This is especially important in light of the fierce competition between local and global companies. Concerned investors have therefore started to press for environmental information to be disclosed in companies’ annual reports. The vast majority of studies in the field of ED have so far focused on developed territories such as Western Europe, America and Australia, neglecting developing countries. The present study is motivated by the lack of research in developing countries in general and Libya in particular. It is an empirical investigation into the ED practices of oil and gas companies operating in Libya. This study is the first to explore ED practices in the oil and gas sector in Libya. This sector, which is considered one of the most polluting industrial sectors, accounts for 70% of Libyan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 98% of the country’s exports (Central Bank of Libya, 2009a). The main objectives of the present study are to identify the current state of ED, as described in the accounting literature, to observe how it is represented in the annual reports of oil companies operating in Libya, and to investigate the determinants of and reasons for ED. In addition, the study attempts to clarify the influence of company characteristics on ED. The aim is to contribute to current knowledge by addressing the shortage of studies on ED in developing countries. To achieve these objectives, three data collection methods were employed: questionnaires, content analysis and interviews. The results show that almost all companies provide some environmental information, although reports contain more positive and neutral than negative information. The respondents agreed strongly that some of the proposed drivers do indeed motivate companies to disclose environmental information, but they rejected others (see Table 6-10). When it came to identifying the obstacles that prevent companies from disclosing environmental information, local companies were consistent in accepting most of the proposed elements as barriers to ED, whereas a number of these elements were rejected by foreign companies (see Table 6-17). It was apparent that although some environmental rules and regulations do exist, they are not applied fully and control of ED is still weak. There is a significant positive association between level of ED and company size, company privatisation and company nationality. The investigation provides further evidence that these characteristics are important and have an impact on the level of ED. On the other hand, the age of the company is insignificant; it is negatively related to the level of ED.

How has oil revenue transparency been institutionalised in the developing world, why and to what effects?And what explains the outcomes of such processes? These are the main questions this dissertation will seek to answer using as its case study Angola, Africa's second largest oil producer and a key case at the centre of global demands for oil revenue transparency in the sub-region.

As a depletable resource oil is a useful source of economic growth, but may not be relied upon for long-term sustainable development. Diversification from oil is needed to achieve this. This research applies three models to examine the most important determinants of oil and non-oil sector economic growth in two of the largest economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), namely Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The empirical analysis applies the Johansen approach and ECM to access the relationship between all variables, both in the long and short-term. Given the governments’ determination to reduce dependence on oil income, this study focuses on the role of non-oil sectors. Explanatory variables in the models included exports, government spending, investment (private and public), tourism (religious and international), labour and capital, while GDP is used as the dependent variable. The results reflect the fact that the main determinants of economic growth in Saudi Arabia are related to the oil sector. The analysis of the long-term relationship between selected variables in the main model find that total exports have the greatest influence on economic growth, while tourism is the least influential variable. Moreover, empirical results show that all variables are important in the growth of the Saudi economy except non-oil exports. The role of religious tourism is not found to be significant in the process of economic growth when the economy as a whole is taken into consideration. Nonetheless, when isolating the non-oil sectors, the effect of religious tourism has a greater influence on economic growth. Concrete evidence also exists as to the importance of the role of an additional variable – government spending – in enhancing economic growth. In the UAE, the impact of both oil and non-oil sectors is highly prominent. This is particularly evident when the economy is divided into two segments (oil and non-oil). With the exception of government spending and public investment in the non-oil sector, the estimated results show that overall both sectors (oil and non-oil) are in fact responsible for this growth. With regard to tourism, the study’s findings confirm its importance in both models. It is found that non-oil exports in the non-oil sectors have the greatest positive impact on economic growth, followed by tourism and private investment respectively. Overall, this study's outcomes suggest that the omission or exclusion of important variables and factors in non-oil sectors such as tourism and the exclusive concentration of empirical studies on the role of oil exports and government spending as the engines of growth, might be both biased and misleading. This thesis has both theoretical and practical implications. Through isolating the non-oil sector from the oil sector, the study is able to detect and highlight the potential role of tourism as a future crucial factor in determining economic growth in oil rich countries, especially in the GCC.

With the rising demand for fossil fuels, Northern Canada has seen an unprecedented increase in petrochemical development. These developments are often associated with emissions of PAHs, a group of hydrophobic organic contaminants that are known to be carcinogenic and otherwise harmful to humans. Due to their hydrophobic nature, PAHs tend to bind to organic matter and can be produced through both anthropogenic and natural processes, making them ubiquitous in the environment. Therefore, in addition to impacts from petrochemical developments, changes to climatic conditions, such as increased forest fire disturbance and primary production also have the potential to alter delivery of organic carbon (OC) and PAHs to ecosystems. However, very little is known as to how the combined stressors of climate change and petrochemical development may affect environmental deposition of these contaminants. The concentrations and composition of parent and alkyl PAHs were analysed in radiometrically-dated sediment cores from lakes with one of four different types of petrochemical development in their catchments: (1) in-situ oil sands extraction (Cold Lake, AB); (2) open-pit oil sands extraction (Fort McMurray, AB); (3) abandoned conventional natural gas exploration (Mackenzie Delta Uplands, NWT); and (4) conventional gas and oil extraction (Cameron Hills, NWT). PAH deposition to lake sediments was also compared to climate reconstructions using climate proxies (diatom assemblages, inferred chlorophyll a and its diagenetic products, and Rock Eval carbon fractions as well as %OC). PAH sources were differentiated between potential pyrogenic and petrogenic origin over a period that extends to pre-industrial times using ratios of specific PAHs that can be traced to their potential source. Sediment cores from Cold Lake, AB showed concentrations of the sum of alkyl PAHs greater than those of parent PAHs, while all other cores show the reverse trend. A comparison of the % change of PAH concentrations from pre-development to post-development sediments between the four regions, showed that the greatest increase in concentrations of PAHs occurred in the Athabasca oil sands region. PAH profiles in the conventional regions have been historically dominated by mixed sources (pyrogenic PAHs from general background atmospheric inputs and petrogenic PAHs from the surrounding hydrocarbon-rich soils). While cores from the Fort McMurray area show a clear shift from pyrogenic sources (primarily wood and coal burning) in earlier sediments to petrogenic sources in more modern sediments, and the Cold Lake cores show some shifting sources to those dominated by pyrogenic sources in modern sediments. Organic carbon was significantly correlated with the sum of parent PAHs in 2 out of the 6 NWT cores that were examined for climate change impacts, while all other PAH parameters (concentration and composition) do not correlate significantly with any of the climate proxies. Establishing background concentrations and sources of PAHs in aquatic ecosystems is essential for understanding the natural environmental variations in these contaminants. Moreover, as both petrochemical activity and impacts from climate change are predicted to intensify in the future, studies such as this one allow us to build a solid understanding of how PAH deposition to northern lakes has responded to the warming climate and whether PAHs have been altered as a result of petrochemical activity.

Oil and gas installations in sensitive areas with harsh environmental conditions may require improved risk monitoring, assessment, and management in order to prevent and limit the damage caused by accidental hydrocarbon spills in the sea. This issue is a priority when the installation under examination is located in an area defined as sensitive. The present work deals with a real reference case study, an offshore installation located in the Barents Sea, which represents a relevant example of innovative facility operating offshore in the Arctic sensitive region. Hydrocarbon process leaks are a major contributor to offshore risk. The scenarios that may develop from the Process area of this installation have been selected through the application of a leak frequency model and the modeling of the safety barriers. The Process Leak for Offshore installation Frequency Assessment Model estimates the topside process leak frequencies for use in Quantitative Risk Analysis of fire and explosion at installations located on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. It is based on the assumption that the leak frequency is proportional to the number of each type of equipment. The performances of the safety barriers have been used as QRA parameters. The environmental risk is evaluated through an exposure-based analysis, based on duration, rate and amount of the release as well as oil drift simulation. This step has been carried out thanks to the SINTEF’s software OSCAR – Oil Spill Contingency and Response. The level of estimated risk is then compared with the stringent tolerability criteria to which installations located in sensitive areas are subjected. Further information about the impact on the ecosystem is given by the EIF factor related to different release categories.

Although considerable attention has been given to the prospects for developing small, medium and micro-enterprises, and more specifically local content, very little relevant research has been undertaken in South Africa's upstream oil and gas industry with specific reference to an offshore supply base. In this research report, findings have been presented from 15 detailed interviews conducted with Transnational Corporations, local SMEs, government departments, industry associations, small business support organisations, and international respondents involved in supplier development programmes within the Oil & Gas sector. The aim of the research was to investigate the difficulties that confront local small businesses, and examine opportunities for outsourcing services to SMEs and encouraging development of business linkages in South Africa's upstream oil and gas industry. The South African research has been conducted within the context of existing international research on upstream oil and gas supplier development, and small enterprise development in developing countries.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participation in the Nigerian oil and gas industry has remained low despite their importance in income generation, employment, local capacity building, and poverty eradication. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies SME owners use to improve profitability in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The target population consisted of 5 business owners who had successfully managed SMEs in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria for more than 5 years. The resource-based view and Porter's 5 forces of competition served as the conceptual framework for the study. Data collection was through semistructured interviews and review of company documents to triangulate the data. Data analysis included transcription, coding, querying, interpreting and reporting the themes, and the use of member checking strengthened the trustworthiness of interpretations. Findings suggested themes of low-cost strategy, knowledge of the business environment, competent personnel, collaborative partnerships, integrity, and financial management. These findings may contribute to positive social change because SME business leaders could use low-cost strategies, hire competent personnel, collaborate with other partners, and demonstrate integrity in financial management. Doing so may improve profitability, generate employment, reduce poverty, and enhance standards of living.

This thesis combines analysis of the political economy of Mexico with the global value chain approach to study the trajectory of the development of the Veracruz cluster and the governance structure of vertical inter-firm relationships in the locality. The petrochemical cluster located in the state of Veracruz is formed by a pool of state-owned and local private companies and is arguably the largest agglomeration of industrial firms in southern Mexico. These firms are linked to one another through output-input relationships. State-owned petrochemical complexes, which are part of Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), Mexico's oil and natural gas company, supply industrial raw materials that local private firms use to process intermediate petrochemical inputs. Empirical evidence demonstrates that state-owned firms exercise a disproportionate degree of authority over input transactions. The latter assertion is illustrated by the fact that PEMEX-Petrochemicals is the only domestic producer (and therefore supplier) of a large number of inputs demanded in the locality. This, along with the hazardous nature of petrochemical inputs and spatial proximity, has contributed to locking local firms into captive transactional relationships. The significance of studying the Veracruz cluster and the nature of inter-firm transactional relationships lies in the fact that both are heavily influenced by drivers inherent in the development path the country has followed in past decades, which is characterised in the first place by the adoption of import-substituting industrialisation (ISI) policies in the 1960s and 1970s and later by the implementation of market-orientated policies in the 1980s and beyond. The discussion is therefore situated in a much broader empirical setting that pays considerable attention to economic, political, and institutional factors. For instance, external determinants such as the extent of state intervention in economic planning in the 1960s and 1970s, the economic liberalisation process embarked on by Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s, the institutionalisation of sectoral regulatory policies, the reliance of the government on PEMEX revenues, and the implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), among others, will help us understand the trajectory of the petrochemical industry and the governance of inter-firm transactional linkages in southern Veracruz.

Mitigating maritime pollution linked to the oil and gas sector is increasingly seen as a priority issue in national and international contexts alike. A key policy tool that has been used to address this issue is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It has become the primary means by which potentially adverse environmental impacts can be assessed and mitigated, and in theory, provides a variety of mechanisms for stakeholder engagement in the policy process. However, the governance of EIA in developing countries is embryonic, emergent, and in parts contradictory. This thesis reviews and evaluates EIA procedures as they relate to the Nigerian Maritime Oil and Gas Sector (NMOGS), relying, in particular, on Matland’s work on ambiguity and conflict in policy implementation. I argue that Matland’s scholarship affords valuable new insights into EIA implementation processes, particularly in terms of understanding the complex interactions among policy, business and civil society actors both within and beyond implementing agencies. Thus, the thesis’s broader contribution is to consider how the complex institutional mosaic sorrounding EIA might be conceptualised and understood theoretically by drawing on the rich literature on policy implementation. The empirical analysis utilises semi-structured face-to-face interviews with fifty-six respondents in key government implementing agencies, academia, and civil society. This is supplemented by secondary data on national level environmental policies, as well as surveys of EIA reports of multinational and national oil company projects in two Nigerian states. The thesis has demonstrated that the institutional context of NMOGS is characterised by high levels of interagency conflict and policy ambiguity. A key cause of the ambiguity is that two EIA systems operate in parallel at the national scale, thus making it difficult for the country to achieve its stated aim of attaining sustainable development in the domestic oil and gas sector. I have also found ample evidence of conflict over the roles, responsibilities and duties of Government actors across the whole spectrum of EIA implementation activities.

La tesi examina els patrons que impulsen la governança i la globalització de Qatar Petroleum (QP) i el sector del petroli i el gas. L’entitat estatal es va convertir des de desembre de 2010 fins avui en el líder mundial de la indústria del gas natural liquat (GNL) amb una producció i exportació de 77,4 (tm/any). El pla de QP és reiniciar el desenvolupament del Camp Nord, el major jaciment de gas del món, després d’una moratòria de 12 anys. Però malgrat la seva importància, hi ha poc en la literatura acadèmica que expliqui per què existeix QP, i com es governa i globalitza. Aquesta tesi pretén omplir aquest buit. Aborda la qüestió: Quins són els patrons que impulsen la governança i la globalització de QP? Per a respondre-la, considerem tres patrons principals que expliquen el nostre cas d’estudi: 1) les polítiques de les elits; 2) la capacitat institucional; i 3) la naturalesa dels recursos. En analitzar aquests patrons i els seus factors associats, la tesi desenvolupa un enfocament transdisciplinar que integra Relacions Internacionals, Història, Economia Política Internacional, Ciència Política i Sociologia. La governança i la globalització de la QP reflecteixen: 1) Les polítiques de les elits: Les polítiques de nacionalització, privatització i liberalització reflecteixen les lògiques, les estratègies i els objectius de l’elit governant de Qatar per a l’acumulació de poder i la supervivència. 1.1. La nacionalització i el llegat colonial. L’Imperi Britànic i el APOC van tenir una gran influència en el sorgiment de Qatar i la seva indústria petroliera. La APOC i les “Set Germanes“ van exercir un monopoli absolut sobre els recursos de Qatar, aquesta pràctica va generar una ona de nacionalisme i nacionalització dels recursos petroliers i la creació de les empreses nacionals de petroli (ENP) coordinada sota el paraigua de l’OPEP. La QP va ser creada en 1974 i existeix per la raó de controlar els recursos de petroli i gas per part de l’elit governant de Qatar. 1.2 La privatització parcial per la “porta de darrere“ ha transformat a QP d’una administració burocràtica estatal en una entitat amb mentalitat comercial i, per tant, ha alterat la seva identitat i comportament enfront de les institucions estatals. 1.3 La liberalització del sector energètic nacional està estretament relacionada amb la privatització parcial de QP i les seves subsidiàries. (2) La capacitat institucional (inclosa la capacitat administrativa i la presa de decisions). Hem comprovat que el sector es regeix pel model de governança principal (elit governant) agent (QP). Aquest sistema permet a l’Estat de Qatar actuar com a autoritat principal, delegant en el seu agent QP la missió nacional, els objectius i les funcions a desenvolupar. L’Emir, és qui dicta la política de l’empresa nacional, el seu pressupost, els nomenaments, les inversions o els contractes amb les empreses internacionals de petroli (EIP). (3) La naturalesa dels recursos: QP desenvolupa petroli, gas i GNL i altres recursos; l’alt nivell de risc i la dificultat d’explotar els recursos de petroli i gas són una pauta important en el desenvolupament de la indústria dels hidrocarburs. La indústria del gas, que implica un alt risc de capital i inversió i tecnologia, va obligar als governants xeics Khalifa i Hamad a establir aliances estratègiques amb les EIP per a gestionar els riscos geològics i de mercat. L’enorme grandària de North Field ha requerit la participació de gegants de l’energia com ExxonMobil, Total, Shell, BP i altres. Concloem que les polítiques de privatització i liberalització són els factors-patró més importants en la governança i la globalització de la QP i el sector del petroli i el gas.
La tesis examina los patrones que impulsan la gobernanza y la globalización de Qatar Petroleum (QP) y el sector del petróleo y el gas. La entidad estatal se convirtió desde diciembre de 2010 hasta hoy en el líder mundial de la industria del gas natural licuado (GNL) con una producción y exportación de 77,4 (tm/año). El plan de QP es reiniciar el desarrollo del Campo Norte, el mayor yacimiento de gas del mundo, tras una moratoria de 12 años. Pero a pesar de su importancia, hay poco en la literatura académica que explique por qué existe QP, y cómo se gobierna y globaliza. Esta tesis pretende llenar ese vacío. Aborda la cuestión: ¿Cuáles son los patrones que impulsan la gobernanza y la globalización de QP? Para responderla, consideramos tres patrones principales que explican nuestro caso de estudio: 1) las políticas de las élites; 2) la capacidad institucional; y 3) la naturaleza de los recursos. Al analizar estos patrones y sus factores asociados, la tesis desarrolla un enfoque transdisciplinar que integra Relaciones Internacionales, Historia, Economía Política Internacional, Ciencia Política y Sociología. La gobernanza y la globalización de la QP reflejan: 1) Las políticas de las élites: Las políticas de nacionalización, privatización y liberalización reflejan las lógicas, las estrategias y los objetivos de la élite gobernante qatarí para la acumulación de poder y la supervivencia. 1.1. La nacionalización y el legado colonial. El Imperio Británico y el APOC tuvieron una gran influencia en el surgimiento de Qatar y su industria petrolera. La APOC y las ""Siete Hermanas"" ejercieron un monopolio absoluto sobre los recursos de Qatar, esta práctica generó una ola de nacionalismo y nacionalización de los recursos petroleros y la creación de las empresas nacionales de petróleo coordinada bajo el paraguas de la OPEP. La QP fue creada en 1974 y existe por la razón de controlar los recursos de petróleo y gas por parte de la élite gobernante qatarí. 1.2 La privatización parcial por la ""puerta de atrás"" ha transformado a QP de una administración burocrática estatal en una entidad con mentalidad comercial y, por lo tanto, ha alterado su identidad y comportamiento frente a las instituciones estatales. 1.3 La liberalización del sector energético nacional está estrechamente relacionada con la privatización parcial de QP y sus subsidiarias. (2) La capacidad institucional (incluida la capacidad administrativa y la toma de decisiones). Hemos comprobado que el sector se rige por el modelo de gobernanza principal (elite gobernante) agente (QP). Este sistema permite al Estado qatarí actuar como autoridad principal, delegando en su agente QP la misión nacional, los objetivos y las funciones a desarrollar. El Emir, es quien dicta la política de la empresa nacional, su presupuesto, los nombramientos, las inversiones o los contratos con las empresas internacionales de petróleo (EIP). (3) La naturaleza de los recursos: QP desarrolla petróleo, gas y GNL y otros recursos; el alto nivel de riesgo y la dificultad de explotar los recursos de petróleo y gas son una pauta importante en el desarrollo de la industria de los hidrocarburos. La industria del gas, que implica un alto riesgo de capital e inversión y tecnología, obligó a los gobernantes jeques Khalifa y Hamad a establecer alianzas estratégicas con las EIP para gestionar los riesgos geológicos y de mercado. El enorme tamaño de North Field ha requerido la participación de gigantes de la energía como ExxonMobil, Total, Shell, BP y otros. Concluimos que las políticas de privatización y liberalización son los factores-patrón más importantes en la gobernanza y la globalización de la QP y el sector del petróleo y el gas.
The thesis examines the patterns that drive the governance and globalisation of Qatar Petroleum (QP) and the oil and gas sector. The state-owned entity became from December 2010 until today, the world leader in of liquefied natural gas industry (LNG) with production and exportation of 77,4 (mt/y). QP’s plan is to the restart development of the North Field, the world biggest gas field after the 12-year Moratorium. But despite its importance, there is little in the academic literature that explains why QP exist, and how is governed and globalised. This thesis seeks to fill the gap. It addresses the question: What are the patterns driving the governance and globalisation of QP. In order to answer this, we consider three main patterns that explain our case study: 1) elite’s policies; 2) institutional capacity, and ;3) nature of resources. In analysing these patterns and their factor-patterns associated, the thesis develops a transdisciplinary approach that integrates International Relations, History, International Political Economy, Political Science and Sociology. Governance and globalisation of QP reflect: 1) Elite’s policies: Nationalization, privatisation, liberalisation policies reflect the logics, the strategies and the goals of the Qatari ruling elite for the accumulation of power and survival. 1.1. Nationalization and Colonial legacy. The British Empire and APOC had a major influence on the emergence of Qatar and its oil industry. APOC and the “Seven Sisters” exercised an absolute monopoly over Qatar’s resources, this practice generated a wave of nationalism and nationalization of oil resources and the creation of the NOCS coordinated under the umbrella of OPEC. QP was created in 1974 and exists for the reason of controlling oil and gas resources by the Qatari ruling elite. The control of the oil and gas sector and the profits obtained means the domination of the two main power resources of the Qatari regime of power: the oil sector and capital. 1.2 Partial Privatization through the “back-door” has transformed QP from a state bureaucratic administration into a commercially minded entity and thus altered its identity and behaviour vis-à-vis state institutions. 1.3 The liberalisation of the domestic energy sector is strongly interlinked with the partial privatisation of QP and its subsidiaries. The lifting of controls on foreign participation of IOCs in the oil and gas energy sector provided QP and its subsidiaries with the financial resources to venture into overseas investments. (2) The institutional capacity (including administrative capacity and decision-making). We have found that the sector is governed by the principal governance model (elite ruling) agent (QP). This system allows the Qatari state to act as the principal authority, delegating to its agent QP the national mission, the objectives and the functions to be developed. The Emir as chairman of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment is the one who dictates the policy of the national company, its budget, appointments, investments, or contracts with IOCs. (3) The nature of resources: QP develops oil, gas and LNG and other resources; the high level of risk and the difficulty of exploiting oil and gas resources are an important pattern in the development of the hydrocarbon industry. The gas industry involving high capital and investment risk and technology forced Sheikhs rulers Khalifa and Hamad to establish strategic alliances with IOCs to manage geological and market risks. The enormous size of North Field has required the involvement of energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Total, Shell, BP, and others. We conclude that privatisation and liberalisation policies are the most important factor-patterns in the governance and globalisation of QP and the oil and gas sector.
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Programa de Doctorat en Ciència Política, Polítiques Públiques i Relacions Internacionals

This thesis analyses how Kenya should apply intellectual property (IP) law in the country’s oil and gas sector to foster innovation and support economic growth within the context of the country’s development plan, Kenya Vision 2030. Specifically, the thesis considers the possible influence of IP law on innovation, investment and economic growth in the oil and gas sector in Kenya. Using doctrinal methodology, the thesis examines legislation and case law from Kenya, South Africa and the United Kingdom relating to competition and protection of patents, copyright, trade marks, trade secrets and industrial designs. This examination is based on a public interest approach to IP law and competition law and seeks to determine the possible effect of Kenya’s IP laws on investment and innovation in the sector. The study finds that IP law and competition law reflect an attempt to accommodate public interest and the interests of investors. It argues that regulation of Kenya’s oil and gas sector using IP law is likely to enhance innovation and support economic growth if relevant IP laws provide for protection of IP whilst safeguarding public interest. The thesis also finds that protection of traditional knowledge (TK) is likely to be relevant to the upstream oil and gas sector in Kenya for environmental resource management. It argues that optimal management of TK is likely to entail collaborative work between indigenous communities, public institutions and private enterprises, as provided for in Kenya’s Environmental Management and Coordination Act (Number 8 of 1999). The thesis makes proposals for a regulatory environment that is likely to provide a firmer basis for investment in the country’s oil and gas industry, promote competition in markets for IP in Kenya, provide a sustainable IP law framework for the sector for economic growth in Kenya, preserve TK of local communities and enhance equitable sharing of benefits related to TK in the context of the country’s oil and gas industry. The thesis contributes to literature on Kenya’s oil and gas industry by filling the apparent gap in analysing the possible effect of the country’s IP law on investment in the industry and public interest.

Due to increased globalisation of markets and liberalisation of local economies, businesses all over the world are developing increasingly competitive strategies. Management development is central to the success of these strategies. Therefore there is an increasing interest in management development and human resources development in Libya. The hope being that these forms of development can improve, and upgrade, the performance of Libyan human resources to achieve the required level of effectiveness, and to attain competitiveness in the world economy. The main objectives of this research are to develop the framework to implement management development programmes and to analyse the current management development practices in Libyan organisations and explore the extent to which transference of Western management development practices, if such transference is possible, has in fact occurred. The study carried out was essentially an evaluation to assess the value of management development; the specific focus of this evaluation was on two comparative cases in the Libyan oil Industry. The research project was carried out in the oil sector which has a particular importance to Libya’s economic prosperity and should be the first place that management development takes place, but equally would be the best place for the transfer of Western management practice to occur. A case study design was used which involved an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence. The main data collection tool was a questionnaire which meant that all the completed responses could be collected within a short period of time and any initial doubts that the respondents might have on any question were clarified on the spot. This also allowed the introduction of the research topic and meant the respondents could be motivated to offer their frank answers. Telephone interviews were used in retrospectively to gather specific information regarding management development within the companies which allowed triangulation. Reliability analyses using Cronbach’s alpha as well as univariate analysis were carried out as were multivariate analyses such as factor analysis (FA) and multiple logistic regression. The non parametric Mann-Whitney test was used to evaluate the association between the instruments (scale). The results of this study show that there is no priority given to manager development at a strategic level in either of the companies. There is no senior endorsement of management development via a written management development policy and no systematic mechanisms for accurately diagnosing group/individual training needs nor any evaluation processes to ensure training remains high quality and business-focused in place at Waha or Repsol either. The Libyan environment and Arab culture have negative effects on perceptions of training in general, and management development in particular, which leads to no serious attention being given to the implementation of management development activities.

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ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo)
Petrobras
The oil industry has grown in recent decades in terms of quantity of facilities and process complexity. However, human and material losses still occur due to major accidents at the facility. The analysis of these accidents reveals that many involve human failures that, if prevented, could avoid such accidents. These failures, in turn, can be identified, modeled and quantified through Human Reliability Analysis (HRA), which forms a basis for prioritization and development of safeguards for preventing or reducing the frequency of accidents. The most advanced and reliable HRA methods have been developed and applied in nuclear power plant operations, while the petroleum industry has usually applied Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) focusing on process safety in terms of technical aspects of the operation and equipment. This thesis demonstrates that the use of HRA in oil refining and petrochemical operations allows the identification and analysis of factors that can influence the behavior of operators as well as the potential human errors that can contribute to the occurrence of an accident. Existing HRA methodologies, however, were mainly developed for the nuclear industry. Thus, they may not reflect the specificities of refining and petrochemical plants regarding the interaction of the operators with the plant, the failure modes of the operators and the factors that influence their actions. Thus, this thesis presents an HRA methodology developed specifically for use in this industry, HERO - Human Error in Refinery Operations HRA Methodology. The Phoenix HRA methodology was used as a basis, which has three layers i) a crew response tree (CRT), which models the interaction between the crew and the plant; ii) a human response model, modeled through fault trees, that identifies the possible crew failures modes (CFMs); and (iii) "contextual factors" known as performance influencing factors (PIFs), modeled through Bayesian networks. In addition to building on such a structure, HERO's development relied on interviews with HRA specialists, visitations to a refinery and its control room, and analysis of past oil refineries accidents - four accidents were analyzed in detail. The methodology developed maintains the three-layer structure and has a guideline flowchart for the construction of the CRT, in order to model the team-plant interactions in oil refining and petrochemical operations; it also features CFMs and PIFs developed specifically for this industry, with definitions that make them easily relatable by an analyst. Finally, the methodology was applied to three potential accidental scenarios of refinery operations. In one of these scenarios, it was combined with a QRA to illustrate how an HRA can be applied to a traditional QRA and to demonstrate the influence of PIFs and of human error probability on the final risk. The use of this methodology for HRA of refineries and petrochemical plants operations can enhance this industry safety and allow for solid riskbased decisions.
A indústria de petróleo teve grande crescimento nas últimas décadas em termos de quantidade de instalações e complexidade de processo. No entanto, perdas humanas e materiais ainda ocorrem devido a acidentes graves nas instalações. A análise desses acidentes revela que muitos envolvem falhas humanas que poderiam ser prevenidas de forma a evitar tais acidentes. Estas falhas, por sua vez, podem ser identificadas, modeladas e quantificadas através da Análise de Confiabilidade Humana (ACH), que forma uma base para priorização e desenvolvimento de salvaguardas na prevenção ou redução da frequência de acidentes. Os métodos de ACH mais avançados e confiáveis têm sido desenvolvidos e aplicados nas operações de controle de plantas nucleares; já a indústria de petróleo tem usualmente aplicado a Análise Quantitativa de Risco (AQR) com foco na segurança de processo em termos técnicos da operação e equipamentos. Esta tese demonstra que o uso da ACH em operações de refino e petroquímica possibilita a identificação e análise dos fatores que podem influenciar o comportamento do operador bem como as potenciais falhas humanas que podem contribuir para a ocorrência de um acidente. As metodologias de ACH existentes, no entanto, foram desenvolvidas para a indústria nuclear. Desta forma, elas não refletem as especificidades de refino e petroquímica no que se refere à interação dos operadores com a planta, aos modos de falha dos operadores e aos fatores que influenciam suas ações. Assim, esta tese apresenta uma metodologia de ACH desenvolvida especificamente para uso nessa indústria, a HERO - Human Error in Refinery Operations HRA Methodology. Como base, utilizou-se a Metodologia Phoenix, que possui três camadas i) uma árvore de resposta da equipe (crew response tree - CRT), que modela a interação da equipe com a planta; ii) um modelo de resposta humana, modelado através de árvores de falhas, que identifica os possíveis modos de falhas da equipe (crew failures modes - CFMs); e iii) os “fatores contextuais” conhecidos como fatores de desempenho ou performance influencing factors (PIFs), modelados através de redes Bayesianas. Além de basear-se em tal estrutura, o desenvolvimento da HERO apoiou-se em entrevistas com especialistas em ACH, visitas a uma refinaria e sua sala de controle e na análise de estudos de acidentes passados em refinarias – foram analisados em detalhe quatro acidentes. A metodologia desenvolvida mantém a estrutura de três camadas e possui um fluxograma-guia para construção da CRT, de forma a modelar as interações equipe-planta na operação de refino e petroquímicas; ela também apresenta CFMs e PIFs desenvolvidos especificamente para esta indústria, com definições que os tornam facilmente identificáveis por um analista. Por fim, a metodologia foi aplicada a três cenários acidentais de operações de refinaria. Em um destes cenários, ela foi conjugada a uma AQR de forma a ilustrar como uma ACH pode ser aplicada a uma tradicional AQR e para demonstrar a influência dos PIFs e da Probabilidade de Erro Humano no risco final. Espera-se que o uso da metodologia proposta nesta tese poderá aumentar a segurança em refinarias e petroquímicas e permitir sólidas decisões baseadas no risco.

This empirical research explored the capacity building of human resources in the emerging oil and gas sector in Ghana. Ghana’s oil and gas were discovered in commercial quantities in 2007 by GNPC and its partners in Jubilee field in the Cape Three Point in the western region, which signified a turning point in the development effort of the state. Local skills shortage perceived as a significant challenge. Thus the government envisaged the need to build local skill capacity which attracted an initial grant of US$38 million from World Bank to facilitate the implementation of oil and gas capacity building project in 2010. The study adopted a mixed method approach for primary data collection. Matched samples of employees (226) working in four public sector organisations in the oil and gas sector were surveyed using the simple random technique, while human resource/training and development directors (9) were purposively sampled and interviewed on the human resources capacity building to assess and corroborates the survey data. The study findings confirmed shortcomings in local skills in the public organisations in the petroleum industry. Comparatively, the results suggested that the performance appraisal tools could be further improved. The study also found local skills mismatch. It revealed that inadequate funding and delays in the release of funds affected local skill capacity building in the public-sector organisations in the industry. Originality, this is one of the very few studies to explore the shortcomings of local skill capacity in the selected organisation including the strategies used in addressing the skill gap. Research implications, more matched-sample studies are necessary to understand further how private companies (IOC’s) contributing to local skill capacity building. Practically, the study is of significance to the policymakers to address the skill gap in the energy sector. The main contribution of the research is to conceptualise the concept of HRM in Ghana’s context. The thesis, therefore, is an essential contribution to our understanding of the skill gap in the oil and gas industry in Ghana and the role of HR in this field.

This thesis is concerned with the application of the real options methodology to value oiVnatural gas pipeline networks. A simple real option model for the valuation of an oil storage facility is presented initially to demonstrate the concept of physical energy asset valuation with respect to market price movements. The investment strategy underpinning:1he model relies on forward dynamic optimisation. We consider a single-period optimisation problem of an oiVnatural gas pipeline network. In this problem, the network is represented by a graph with vertices and arcs denoting various markets and pipelines, respectively. Each market has delivery and supply constraints and there are also pipeline capacity constraints. The objective is to maximise profit subject to satisfying all constraints by flowing oiVgas through the network. Two formulations, one path-based and the other arc-based, transforming the problem into a linear programming problem are described. The performance of the algorithm d~veloped for each formulation is evaluated. A real option model for an oil/natural gas pipeline network is presented. The model uses the arc formulation and Monte Carlo simulation. Its algorithmic implementation is tested. We extend the single-period optimisation problem by introducing multiple time periods and an oil/gas storage facility. An arc-based formulation leading to a -new linear programming problem is presented. We test the implementation algorithm constructed. A description of how to use the arc-based formulation and Monte Carlo simulation to develop a real option model for an oiVnatural gas pipeline network with storage is also provided. A real option model for an oil/natural gas pipeline network with storage is developed. The model is a stochastic dynamic programming approach and takes into account optionality that may be exercised throughout the lifetime of the network. The constructed algorithm's performance is investigated.

For many years Libya suffered from economic and political exclusion from the outside world. This isolation was a result of both Libyan governmental policies (under the Gaddafi regime, which was almost entirely against economic liberalisation) as well as sanctions placed on Libya by the international community, led by the United States. This situation prevented Libya’s integration into the contemporary global economy, and continued for over 30 years from Gaddafi’s rise to power in 1969. However, by the late 1990s Libya began to relax its policies against economic liberalisation and by 2003 it had resolved many of the political disputes with the international community that prevented Libya’s global integration. Consequently, Libya opened its borders and its economy, especially to the oil international corporations (MNOCs) and foreign direct investment (FDI). Since then MNOCs from around the world, including from the United States and Europe, returned to work in the Libyan oil sector signalling a new moment in Libya’s economic development. This thesis investigates these changes and the impact of globalisation on the development of the Libyan oil sector. This study uses a mixed method approach drawing on quantitative and qualitative methods to collect, analyse and present evidence in order to understand and explain how processes of globalisation have impacted on the nature of the Libyan oil sector and the role this plays in the global hydrocarbons market. Determining and interpreting the impact of the globalisation phenomenon requires the engagement with people’s views and their experiences (in particular the opinions of decision-makers in Libya). Therefore, interviews were conducted with individuals who have adequate understanding and experience regarding the environment of the studied topic, which fulfils the criteria for the qualitative approach. Interviews were also designed in order to answer the research questions by inserting the research questions within the interviews questions. The interviews have been conducted in Libya with key policy- and decision-makers and experts of the targeted institutions which included MNOCs and Libyan national bodies. Regression modelling was applied in order to test the validity of the hypothesis. This thesis finds that the performance of the Libyan oil sector was impacted positively by the post-2003 processes of integration (globalisation) and when compared to the period of relative isolation from the early 1970s to the early 2000s, the sector developed rapidly as a result of economic liberalisation. The results of analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data, however, this thesis also shows that the Libyan oil sector and the broader Libyan economy (given the central role of hydrocarbons in Libya) have become more susceptible to external processes well out of the control of the Libyan authorities.

Strategic projects form the core of corporate growth, change and wealth creation, which enable a firm to achieve and sustain long-term success. However, a traditional engineering perspective on project management still seems to dominate. In general terms, manages are fully aware of some traditional techniques, such as NPV, but these can undervalue a strategic project. They occasionally apply techniques for controlling projects, and often lack a practical understanding of recently developed techniques. The purpose of these recently developed techniques is to create a project's value from the outset, and to drive a firm to superior performance and aspiration. The current research project aims to explore the role of techniques in facilitating successful strategic project management, and the elements involved in it, as applied to the UK upstream oil and gas sector. At first, the existing literature on successful strategic project management is reviewed, with major emphasis given to the techniques applied to managing projects. The proposed methodology follows a triangular approach. First, exploratory interviews essentially describe fifty multidisciplinary elements involved in strategic project management. Second, an exploratory deskwork explores the extent to which techniques address, in theory, these elements. Third, a main survey describes the elements managers pay considerable attention to, searches for the elements that are believed to explain a strategic project's success and identifies the techniques that often address each element in practice. Finally, follow-up interviews validate some questionnaire findings. As a result, sets of techniques for successful strategic project management are proposed, and validated through assessment sheets. The present study represents an embryo for future investigation in the project management field. First, it explores the gap between elements that are believed to explain a project's success and those that managers pay most attention to in managing strategic projects. Finally, it suggests that the convergence of financial, environmental (green) and internal business issues might be a healthy route for the UK upstream oil and gas sector towards successful strategic project management.

The management of health and safety risks in the oil refinery tends to be centred on the collection and simulation of technical data which can then be used to make decisions on the wellbeing of the workforce as well as the refinery installations. While the number crunching in the process is immensely vital, there tends to be a problem of ignoring or, at the very least, side-lining the social-cultural values of the people dealing with health and safety risk assessment processes. The economic driver for the operation of the oil refinery tends to be more important because of the generally huge initial financial outlay, and the eventual high costs of maintenance; hence health and safety risk management should have evidence of ensuring that the installations, as well as the people that work in them, are well catered for. In the Kuwait Gulf Oil Company this problem is more evident in newer installations where lean management processes have been instituted by oil firms so that they can reduce waste in the oil refining process without compromising the occupational health and safety needs of the refinery. Therein lies the initial problem of integrating health and safety risk assessment processes because most approaches concentrate on the technical elements of waste elimination while ignoring the social-cultural factors that impact on the health and safety of the workforce. This is an exploratory piece of research that examines the impact of rational and cognitive decision theories – herein called the psychology of risk – and how they impact on the occupational health and safety systems in the oil and gas refining sector of Kuwait. The research concludes that the application of lean concepts in the oil refining process is noble in itself but it needs to be integrated with the rational and cognitive detection factors that are necessary to incorporate and support the social-cultural tendencies of the workforce. The research recommends a framework for incorporating social-cultural values in the decision making process pertaining to health and safety risk assessment in oil refining process plants. Key Words: occupational health and safety risk assessment; lean management; social-cultural values; rational and cognitive decision making; oil and gas process plants.

This paper provides specific estimates on the scale of profit shifting among hydrocarbon MNEs. We estimate a lower-bound semi-elasticity of reported profits to sector specific income taxation of -1.88. To assess the importance of domestic profit-shifting channels, we take advantage of domestic tax differentials among hydrocarbon producers facing additional rent taxes and find that domestic profit shifting accounts for about one third of total income concealed. Overall, we estimate revenue losses in the sector due to profit-shifting amount to 12% - 35% of the income tax base, depending on the characteristics of a country's tax regime. We also observe a higher vulnerability of non-OECD economies to profit shifting in our sample, which consists of 294 domestic and multinational parents and subsidiaries during the period from 2004-2012. Finally, our analysis confirms the mitigation effect of documentation requirements for internal transactions. However, we also find that increased enforcement prompts MNEs in the Oil and Gas sector to rely more heavily on the reallocation of profits at the domestic level. (authors' abstract)
Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

The thesis contributes to the perspective on the role of stakeholder engagement in negotiating corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices in developing country context. It critically examines the role of societal pressures as drivers of Shell's CSR agenda, and explores the forms of relationships existing between Shell and its stakeholders in Nigeria, as the company implements its CSR programme, both in the light of its strategic business objectives and of its social responsibilities and environmental liabilities. Furthermore, it examines the role of government in the oil MNCs' CSR agenda, and explores the conditions under which the government, in its dual role as business partner and as state authority, promotes CSR policies and practices in Nigeria. Shell's CSR policies and practices in Nigeria were examined under the theoretical lenses of the resource-based view perspective extended to notions of legitimacy and the licence to operate. Additionally, the stakeholder engagement perspective was applied as the theoretical framework for examining Shell's stakeholder engagement, and the role of the company's stakeholders in negotiating its current CSR policies and practices in Nigeria. Data collection was undertaken during field research in Nigeria. The evidence presented is drawn from individual interviews with corporate executives at Shell Nigeria, Shell International, several stakeholders in the Nigerian oil sector, and from an online survey conducted in 2005 on Shell Nigeria's stakeholders. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used throughout the analysis presented in the thesis. The research findings suggest that the relationship between the firm's pursuit of the social licence to operate through CSR initiatives and stakeholder engagement is more complex than assumed. It adds to the understanding of the dynamics of a MNC's stakeholder engagement in the local context. It highlights the various interdependencies that develop between stakeholder groups and the company at the institutional level as well as within the context of the organisation, as the corporation develops and implements its CSR agenda. As such, the research invites an examination not just of the differences and barriers existing between the firm and its stakeholders, home and host country practices, but also of the ways in which they are embedded in each other, and how this affects their collaboration.

The macroeconomy of Saudi Arabia has been dominated by oil exports which between 1970 and 1995 accounted for more than 85% of total export earnings. Due to the fact that oil is an exhaustible resource, the price of which fluctuates considerably, and is produced in an enclave economy, the Saudi Arabian government had recognised the needs to diversify their economy away from oil as the main source of income. Since the oil price crashed in 1986, the Saudi Arabian government has adopted a new policy to develop non-oil sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture and more recently, non-oil minerals. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the contribution of the non-oil minerals sector to the economic growth of Saudi Arabia during the period 1970-1995, using three different approaches. These approaches are the export portfolio approach, the input-output approach and the Dutch disease approach. The empirical findings of this study show the following: 1. A non-oil export portfolio analysis provided guidance to the Saudi Arabian planners who seek simultaneously to reduce export earnings instability and achieve economic growth. An increase in the volume of machinery and transport equipment commodities could produce an optimum portfolio due to both price trends and stability of price over time. Other exports, including non-oil mineral commodities, are unstable and have relatively negative price trends. 2. Even though preliminary results indicate that the non-oil minerals sector has a relatively low integration with other sectors, when the impact of inducing final demand is taken into account, this sector shows the highest income and the second highest employment multipliers. These results indicate that if this sector were to be stimulated by increasing final demand, it may well generate more income and employment than other sectors. Therefore, the application of an input-output approach was extended further to estimate the impact of three new promising nonoil mineral projects on the Saudi Arabian economy. Moreover, the construction and operation phase's multipliers reflect the potential of the non-oil minerals sector. 3 With regard to the effect of a boom in one sector of the economy on the rest of the sectors, the oil sector boom in the 1970s in the case of Saudi Arabia conforms very closely with the assumptions of the Dutch disease theory.

Aquesta tesi s'emmarca dins de dos projectes relacionats amb la recuperació (tractament + reutilització) d'aigües residuals generades per la indústria de petroli i gas. L'objectiu del primer projecte va ser la reutilització d'aigua residual generada per aquest sector mitjançant el tractament dels anomenats efluents "downstream" amb processos d'oxidació avançats (AOPs). Amb aquest objectu, es van estudiar diversos processos AOPs fotocatalítics i basats en ozó, els quals es van aplicar, en primer lloc, per al tractament d'una aigua sintètica amb una composició complexa representativa d'aigua residual de refineria (SRW). Després dels resultats obtinguts amb SRW, es va investigar el rendiment del tractament en tres aigües residuals reals diferents amb l'objectiu d'assolir els requisits per a la reutilització d'aigua a la planta. El segon projecte es va enfocar en el tractament d'aigua residual procedent del procés de sorres petrolíferes (OSPW), que actualment es troba emmagatzemada en estanys causa de la política de descàrrega zero a la regió d'Alberta, Canadà. En primer lloc, es van comparar els tractaments d'ozonització i UV amb diferents oxidants i pH. El tractament amb UV/Fenton va resultar ser un mètode eficaç per eliminar els components orgànics presents en l'efluent que causen toxicitat aguda. També es van investigar les activitats catalítiques de catalitzadors de carbó activat granulat prèviament dopats amb N o N/S i Fe(III). Es va realitzar una selecció dels catalitzadors més prometedors mitjançant disseny factorial fraccional en l'ozonització catalítica d'una aigua sintètica. Posteriorment, els materials seleccionats es van investigar més a fons per al tractament de OSPW real. Es van estudiar, a més, processos AOP basats en ozó en combinació amb H2O2 i UVC amb l'objectiu d'assolir la mineralització dels contaminants orgànics, inclosos els àcids naftènics presents en l'efluent. Un augment en la mineralització repercuteix positivament en la reducció de la toxicitat. Per primera vegada es presenta l'estudi de la combinació de UVC amb tractaments basats en O3 per tractar la OSPW.
Esta tesis se enmarca dentro de dos proyectos relacionados con la recuperación (tratamiento + reutilización) de aguas residuales generadas por la industria del petróleo y gas. El objetivo del primer proyecto fue la reutilización de agua residual generada por la industria del petróleo y gas mediante el tratamiento de los denominados efluentes "downstream" con procesos de oxidación avanzados (AOPs). Para ello, se estudiaron varios procesos AOPs fotocatalíticos y basados en ozono, los cuales se aplicaron, en primer lugar, para el tratamiento de un agua sintética con una composición compleja representativa de agua residual de refinería (SRW). Tras los resultados obtenidos con SRW, se investigó el rendimiento del tratamiento en tres aguas residuales reales diferentes con el objetivo de alcanzar los requisitos para la reutilización del agua en la planta. El segundo proyecto se enfocó en el tratamiento de agua residual procedente del proceso de arenas petrolíferas (OSPW), que actualmente se encuentra almacenada en estanques debido a la política de descarga cero en la región de Alberta, en Canadá. En primer lugar, se compararon los tratamientos de ozonización y UV con diferentes oxidantes y pH. El tratamiento con UV/Fenton resultó ser un método eficaz para eliminar los componentes orgánicos presentes en el efluente que causan toxicidad aguda. También se investigaron las actividades catalíticas de catalizadores de carbón activado granulado previamente dopados con N o N/S y Fe (III). Se realizó una selección de los catalizadores más prometedores mediante diseño factorial fraccional en la ozonización catalítica de un agua sintética. Posteriormente, los materiales seleccionados se investigaron más a fondo para el tratamiento de OSPW real. Se estudiaron, además, procesos AOP basados en ozono en combinación con H2O2 y UVC con el objetivo de alcanzar la mineralización de los contaminantes orgánicos, incluidos los ácidos nafténicos presentes en el efluente. Un aumento en la mineralización repercute positivamente en la reducción de la toxicidad. Por primera vez se presenta el estudio de la combinación de UVC con tratamientos basados en O3 para tratar la OSPW.
This thesis has been developed within two projects dealing with the reclamation of wastewater generated by the oil & gas industry. The first project aimed at water reuse in the oil & gas sector treating the downstream effluents by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). For this, several photo-based and ozone-based AOPs were assessed in detail starting from a synthetic refinery wastewater (SRW) with a complex composition. After the initial screening on SRW, the treatment performance of the different AOPs was investigated with three different real wastewaters, aiming at reaching the requirements for water reuse in the plant. The second project considered the treatment of oil sands process water (OSPW) currently stored in tailing ponds because of the zero-discharge policy in Alberta region, in Canada. Firstly, catalytic ozone-based and UV-based treatments with different oxidants and operating pH were compared. UV/Fenton treatment was considered as an effective method for removing the organic components present in the effluent that cause acute toxicity. The catalytic activities of granular activated carbon-based materials previously doped with heteroatom (N or N/S) and Fe (III) were also investigated. For catalytic ozonation of a synthetic water, a catalyst selection was performed based on the fractional factorial design. Afterwards, the selected materials were investigated further for the treatment of real OSPW. The use of ozone-based AOPs including H2O2 and UVC to achieve mineralization was examined in detail, while also aiming at reduction in toxicity arising from the organic components including naphthenic acids present in the effluent. UVC combination to O3-based treatments was studied for the first time to treat OSPW.

China has experienced a phenomenal growth during the last years. With this economic

development comes a great need for energy. Energy to fuel the domestic production. As the

domestic resources in China have shown to be insufficient, one way to get the energy

demanded is to go onto the international market. China has, thus, started undertaking FDI in

oil to be able to feed the domestic needs. In this thesis we will discuss these investments and

investigate if prevalent theories on FDI can explain the FDI that have taken place. Our

conclusion is that the FDI undertaken has been resource-seeking investment. Since the

Chinese oil companies are state-owned and regulated so that they can not act as profitmaximizing

firms, our thesis will show that the Chinese FDI in the oil sector therefore only

partly can be explained by the theories on FDI.