Keywords: Kazakhstan; China; oil; The New York Times; the North Caspian Sea PSA; RFE/RL; Nursultan Nazarbaev; the UK-based BG Group
China spends $1.2 billion to buy into Kazakhstan’s oil wealth, boosting the possibility of a pipeline to China finally being built.
More...Keywords: Macedonia; oil finds; Ovcho Pole; UN’s Conference for Trade and Development (UNKTAD); Gligor Tashkovich
Norwegian, Turkish and Kazakh oil and gas companies plan to come to Macedonia to investigate long-maintained claims of oil in the eastern plain.
More...Keywords: Sadoveanu; suggested psychology; crucial human values
Sadoveanu’s art of the novel requires a special critical approach (analysis, interpretation, evaluation), adapted to its concentration and refined, discrete architecture of nuances. Baltagul (The Hatchet) and Creanga de aur (The Golden Bough), two masterpieces, excel in suggested psychology of the main characters, story and plot shaped in a subtle manner, able to imply a higher level of the crucial human values as well in creating an atmosphere of experiences nourished by fictional worlds tensions, passions balanced by wisdom and deeply assumed moral and religious principles. Understanding better relationships between meaning and structure in such major works of the novelist is a way toward essential Sadoveanu.
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Keywords: Kremlin; Vladimir Putin; regional politics; control the Russian oil and gas industries; Rosneft; Gazprom; Russian oil production; energy market; Russian government; Igor Sechin; Yukos; Vedomosti; Ekho Moskvy
In one huge move, the Kremlin has created a global giant, may have resolved the question of Yukos' fate, and has undone another part of Yeltsin's legacy.
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Keywords: Syria; economic growth; oil exports; non-oil exports; VAR
This study investigated the role of oil and non-oil exports in the Syrian economic over the period 1975-2010. The ADF unit root test, Johansen cointegration test, Granger causality test, impulse response functions (IRF), and variance decomposition (VD) analysis were used in this study. The cointegration test indicates that GDP is positively and significantly related to oil and non-oil exports. The Granger causality test indicates bidirectional short-run causality relationships between GDP, oil exports and non-oil exports. There are also bidirectional long-run causality relationship between non-oil exports and GDP, and unidirectional long-run causality relationship running from oil exports to GDP. The study result indicates that oil exports have the biggest effect on the GDP, thus we suggest encouraging non-oil export and increase its diversity.
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Keywords: Russian oil companies; oil market; crude oil; petroleum products; the EU market; export;Russia;
The European Union has traditionally been the most important outlet for Russian oil exports. At the same time, during the period 2011-2014 a systematic decline was observed in crude oil supplies to the EU, while at the same time the export of petroleum products increased. It is now difficult to say that Russia is following a coherent oil strategy vis-a-vis the EU. The current shape of Russian activity is more the result of the business interests of individual companies, rather than the result of activities coordinated by the state.Although in the short term (up to 2020), the negative trend in crude oil exports to the EU could be halted (as confirmed by the figures for 2015), the long-term prospects for Russia's position on the EU market are pessimistic. This is because the importance of factors unfavourable to Russia is rising, such as the decrease in consumption of oil in the EU, the increased competition among exporters to the EU market, and the deterioration of the climate of Russian/EU cooperation in the context of the anti-Russian sanctions, as well as unclear prospects for the development of the upstream sector in Russia.
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Keywords: Crude oil prices;Southern Europe;Energy security;Natural gas;
This paper examines the development of oil prices in the last years and its impact on energy security of the southern Europe countries. The development of oil prices in the last years has a potential impact on all economies. Indeed the impact was positive for crude oil importing economies but in the other hand, negative impact on crude oil exporting economies. According to our analysis, the impact was positive on all southern Europe economies, regardless the scale of the impact. Off course the low crude oil prices improves the affordablity of energy supply, but for the energy security of southern Europe countries should be insured by other alternative energy resources, among them natural gas and renewable energy resources.
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Keywords: oil industry; M&A; volatility of crude oil prices; exposure rates;
The aim of this paper is to perform statistical analyses and identify the impact of volatility in crude oil prices with respect to the value and number of M&A in the oil industry and to identify the extent to which M&A market lags in responding to changing oil prices. Given the limited public access to data on M&A in the oil industry, the study focused on the upstream and global oil industry in general. Nonetheless, the results of the study remain indicative. Ongoing future research should also research other business segments to measure the exposure of oil industry segments to changing oil prices.
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Keywords: war in Irak;oil;
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Keywords: Mer Noir; Mer Baltique; faille strategique; pivot;
L’une d’entre zone-clefs de synthèse géopolitique et géostratégique essentielle sur la faille stratégique Mer Noir – Mer Baltique, réactivé à la suite de la crise ukrainienne, c’est la région plus ou moins étendue de la Mer Noir. Les arguments historiques, politiques, économiques et civilisationnels, comme les nouvelles défies du milieu régional de sécurité et, mais aussi transfrontalier et globale, laisse pour les grandes puissances qui se trouve d’une cote et d’une autre de la faille stratégique Mer Noir – Mer Baltique et pour les pays riveraines cette chance que nous la considérons non seulement une alternative à la guerre, une altérité, mais aussi une modalité de transformer les divergences en confluences et la confluence en unité, prospérité et sécurité. Et même-ci les réalités de ce moment compliqué et plein de tensions semble a dissuader une telle perspective, nous croyons que la région de la Mer Noir pet devenir – et deviendra vraiment – un espace de soudure Est-Ouest, une vraie synapse géopolitique et géostratégique, économique, sociale et inter-civilisationnelle, qui mènera fin a l’effet de faille stratégique qu’y existe puis longtemps. Dans ces qui suivent, on présenterait ce point de vue.
More...Keywords: Oil Price Shocks; Economic Performance; Panel SVAR; Oil Exporting;
This study applied recently developed Panel Structural Vector Autoregressives (P-SVAR)estimating technique to empirically assess the transmission processes of oil price shocks and how it impacts economic performance within the monetary framework of the Africa’s net oil exporting economies. The study considered, among other variables; inflation, money supply, bank rate, exchange rate, gross domestic product, unemployment and oil price shocks which is treated a sexogenous while other variables as endogenous variables. The period of the study covered 1980-2015. The analysis of the data revealed that there were significant responses to oil price shocks during this period. The result of the study showed that oil price shocks have large impact on the economic performance of Africa’s oil exporting countries and also that transmission of oil price ensues monetary medium. Hence, the study suggests that strong monetary control measure should be put in place whenever positive shocks in oil is experienced.
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Keywords: random effects; oil; resource curse; local community;
The purpose of this study is to determine the resilience of oil intensive Romanian communities to oil price fluctuations. The methodology employed is based on identifying the communities with the most extensive oil extraction activities using GIS (Geographic Information System) software. We then apply a random effects panel regression model to check the significance of the oil price as a predictor of employment. Results indicate that the effect of oil price fluctuations is limited, with employment in the identified communities following the national trend. Unfortunately, our study is hindered by data availability issues and a short time series. Nevertheless, conclusions are backed by the country’s characteristics – a diversified economy, integration with refining operations, and the presence of related manufacturing and services activities. The study adds to the existing literature by focusing on a mature region with a long history of hydrocarbon extraction activities. We argue that the study of local communities in mature regions is of great importance in the context of the ongoing energy transition, particularly of those located within the European Union.
More...Keywords: Oil Price Volatility; Inflation; Growth Outcomes; Pool Mean Group; Africa
A range of explanations had been offered for the apparent change in oil price-inflation relationship outcomes ranging from the possible use of alternate energy sources, change in the structure of output regarding fewer oil intensive sectors and the role of fiscal and monetary in the affected oil-exporting countries. These changes had drawn the attention of stakeholders, government and the society at large to the anecdotal relationship among oil price volatility, inflation, and output in Africa oil-exporting countries. This study leans empirical credence to the impact of oil price volatility on inflation and economic performance in the Africa oil-exporting countries from 1995 through 2017. We employed the Pool Mean Group estimation procedure with the inference drawn at a 5% level of significance. We found that oil price volatility had a negative and significant effect on inflation in Africa oil-exporting countries. The study concluded that oil price volatility had a substantial impact on inflation in the Africa oil-exporting countries. The study, therefore, recommended that Africa oil-exporting countries should adopt precautionary measures to monitor inflation potentials due to different responses of inflation to positive and negative oil price shocks.
More...Keywords: offshore oil and gas pollutions; Trans-Anatolian pipeline; Trans-Adriatic pipeline; environmental protection measures; five countries of the Caspian region; Caspian convention;
The article provides a brief overview of the oil and gas ecology of the Caspian Sea. It is shown that with the increasing intensity of oil and gas production in the Caspian Sea, it is very important that all environmental protection measures be thoroughly observed by oil-gas companies operating in the five countries of the Caspian region.
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Keywords: development;Gdańsk;terminal;crude oil;outlook;security;
The paper shows the role of and the outlooks for the extension of Naftoport Oil Terminal in Gdańsk, Poland as well as the impact of the ongoing development on oil import options and, as a result, on the oil security of the country. The expansion of the oil terminal in Gdańsk is an extremely important project and the largest investment of this type in Poland. Key elements of the development of the terminal are: new transshipment stations and their enhancement, new oil tanks, the construction of the second oil pipeline running to the center of Poland, the development of crude oil technological installations, electricity grid, water and foam networks, sanitary networks, roads, and automation systems. The expansion of Naftoport significantly increases Poland’s oil security as well as import capabilities of the country, ensuring continuous oil supplies to Polish refineries, often at a lower price.
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Keywords: chaos theory; technical analysis; rescaled range analysis;
With the non-random movement of the prices of exchange trading objects in mind, by means of the methods and tools of chaos theory, it is possible to show that price changes are subject to the laws of deterministic chaos. This is a new look at this subject compared to the statistical methods that have been used for years, which in most cases assume that the distribution of the rate of returns of the examined series is normal. The aim of the study is to determine the nature of the changes in oil, dollar and Polish fuel prices: whether they are random or determined. In addition, the second aim is to investigate the cause and effect relationship between the price changes of the above-mentioned stocks. Tools such as rescaled range analysis, mean and variance stability analysis and technical analysis will be used. Conclusions resulting from the examination of the three indicated values should be interesting for capital market participants. The article ends with a short-term forecast for WIG-oil&gas.
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Keywords: oil; production; increase in reserves; geological exploration; gross regional product; personal income; Cobb-Douglas production function; sustainability; imbalance
There are numerous studies on different aspects of the impact of hydrocarbon production on Russian economy. Nevertheless, direct and indirect effects of reserve reproduction on social and economic development of oil-producing regions have been insufficiently assessed, even though it differs due to various macroeconomic processes and existing state mechanisms of subsoil use. The present paper examines the upstream sector of the petroleum industry comprising hydrocarbon exploration and production. The research hypothesis states that an imbalance in subsoil use results in growing inequality of socio-economic development of Russian regions, while the expansion of geological exploration work will reduce this effect. The study analyses the influence of geological exploration, leading to an increase in oil reserves and oil production, on gross regional product (GRP) per capita and personal income. For that purpose, the analysis was performed based on statistical data on five regions of the Russian Federation using the Cobb-Douglas production functions. According to the results obtained for blocks of the proposed regression model, Russian regions were divided into clusters in terms of the input effect on expected results. Overall, the influence of oil production on GRP per capita and average income is more significant compared to an increase in oil reserves. Moreover, the impact of the upstream sector in Tomsk oblast is stronger than in other constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The existing regional imbalance in social-economic development depends on not only available natural capital and tax relief system in subsoil management, but also differences in economic development and the role of petroleum industry in the analysed regions. In the context of recession, the expansion of geological exploration is required to increase natural capital that would provide the income many times higher than investments at the upswing of the cycle. The study results can be used for petroleum industry management in the field of geological exploration to justify the use of financial and fiscal incentives.
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Keywords: Iran; Islamism; Shia; Sunni; oil, Persian Gulf; OPEC; geopolitics; nuclear weapons; civilization clash
In recent decades world supply of oil has been increasingly held in the Islamic countries around the Persian Gulf. The fact that the level of oil production is high in these countries and that they possess most of the world’s oil reserves could be extremely significant. This “petropower” could lead to strategic geopolitical developments when oil is used as economic and political weapons. It may be that the apocalyptic appeal of militant Islamism coming out of Iran can weld both Shia and Sunni people of the region to the cause of establishing a world Islamic “caliphate”. This may appear in a new world of a tripartite mix of superpowers, one of which could be an Iranian-led oil rich Islamic bloc of Gulf states. Each superpower would vie for advantage, and particularly two of these superpowers would seek favour in maintaining supplies of oil imports increasingly from a potentially Iran dominated mix of oil producing Islamic countries.
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Keywords: enhanced oil recovery; low-salt water; oil-water interface; viscoelasticity; waterflooding
In order to improve the development of reserves, optimal technologies must be introduced to meet the regular increase in demand for hydrocarbons. Injection of low-salinity water is one of these technologies that have been shown to be effective in solving this problem. Accordingly, low-salt water is investigated as a potential method to increase terrigenous oil recovery. Based on modelling the flooding of solutions with different salinities, the effect of salt concentration on oil displacement efficiency during re-injection was assessed. Salinity reduction efficiency was examined by comparing oil recovery after flooding with high salinity water. Due to active interactions at the oil-water interface, including an increase in viscoelasticity, the oil recovery factor increased with a decrease in salinity. Oil recovery increased by 1.3 – 2% as water salinity decreased.
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