Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Oil and Gas'

This study attempts to resolve two important issues. First, it investigates the diversification benefit of crude oil for equities. Second, it examines whether or not crude oil derivatives transactions by oil and gas producers can change shareholders' wealth. With these two major goals in mind, I study the risk and return profile of crude oil, the value effect of crude oil derivatives transactions, and the systematic risk exposure effect of crude oil derivatives transactions. In contrast with previous studies, this study applies the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) methodology to measure the risk and return profile of crude oil. The results show that crude oil is negatively correlated with stocks so adding crude oil into a portfolio with equities can provide significant diversification benefits for the portfolio. Given the diversification benefit of crude oil mixed with equities, this study then examines the value effect of crude oil derivatives transactions by oil and gas producers. Differing from traditional corporate risk management literature, this study examines corporate derivatives transactions from the shareholders' portfolio perspective. The results show that crude oil derivatives transactions by oil and gas producers do impact value. If oil and gas producing companies stop shorting crude oil derivatives contracts, company stock prices increase significantly. In contrast, if oil and gas producing companies start shorting crude oil derivatives contracts, stock prices drop marginally significantly. Thus, hedging by producers is not necessarily good. This paper, however, finds that changes in policy regarding crude oil derivatives transactions cannot significantly affect the beta of shareholders' portfolios. The value effect, therefore, cannot be attributed to any systematic risk exposure change of shareholders' portfolios. Market completeness, transaction costs, and economies of scale are identified as possible sources of value effect. The following conclusions have been obtained in this study. Crude oil provides significant diversification benefits for equities. In the presence of market imperfections, crude oil derivatives transactions by oil and gas producers may change shareholders' wealth, even though crude oil derivatives transactions by oil and gas producers do not have significant effect on the systematic risk exposures of companies.

Mestrado em Finanças
O renovado interesse na indústria petrolífera coloca-a no topo da lista de prioridades de investimento estrangeiro para alguns países. A competitividade empresarial é um factor bastante importante numa Sociedade global e, como tal, um factor que não pode ser descurado a este nível. O objectivo deste trabalho assenta no estudo de uma decisão de investimento referente à possível expansão da actividade de empresas prestadoras de serviços na indústria petrolífera. Além da definição do enunciado da situação, uma resolução é apresentada. Esta resolução assenta em três metodologias distintas: - Modelo Free Cash-Flow; - Análise Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities e Threats (SWOT); - Modelo Matriz Híbrida. O modelo de Free Cash-Flow permitiu considerar os custos de capital de cada empresa e chegar a uma conclusão sobre o país/local que apresenta as métricas financeiras mais apelativas. A análise SWOT oferece-nos uma visão mais generalista acerca dos países considerados sobre a perspectiva de investimento.. Com o intuito de analisar factores estratégicos induzidos por parâmetros externos (de forma a não considerar apenas métricas financeiras), foi criada uma Matriz Híbrida e foi realizada a respectiva análise. Neste seguimento, os resultados apresentados pelo Modelo de Matriz Híbrida deverão ser considerados aquando da decisão de expansão. Foi possível concluir que a melhor opção base é a criação de um escritório em Portugal. Apesar desta conclusão, a solução óptima é observada quando contabilizamos os custos de abrir um escritório em Portugal e quando, simultaneamente, consideramos os impostos que são pagos na Holanda (devido à sua política de impostos mais atractiva).
The renewed interest in the Oil & Gas sector places this Industry at the top of the list of priorities for some countries in order to attract foreign investment. Corporate competitiveness is, therefore, an extremely important vehicle for a globalized Society. The aim of the present work was to study the possible investment contemplated by an expansion decision taken by some Oil & Gas Services companies. Besides the definition of the problem, an adequate resolution is also presented. This resolution is sustained by three distinct methodologies: - Free Cash-Flow Model; - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis; - Hybrid Matrix Model. The Free Cash-Flow Model enabled us to consider costs of capital and come to a decision regarding the country that presented the best financial results. The SWOT analysis provided a more generalist view over the several analysed countries. With the purpose of analysing strategic factors induced by external parameters (besides the financial field), the Hybrid Matrix Model was created and a study was carried out. Subsequently, the results presented by the Hybrid Matrix Model shall be taken into account when choosing a location for an international expansion. It was possible to conclude that the best base scenario is observed when opening an Office in Portugal. However, the optimal solution would be opening an Office in Portugal and account the profits/losses in the Netherlands, mixing the country that presents the lowest costs with the country that has the best taxation policies.

Oil extraction in Nigeria has caused extensive environmental degradation and health problems in many Nigerian communities, particularly in the ecologically sensitive Niger Delta where nearly all of the oil extraction takes place. The reasons for this are complex and have roots in Nigeria’s colonial past. The Nigerian economy is largely reliant on its petroleum resources which, in conjunction with governmental corruption and high international demand for Nigerian oil, has created a system where environmental externalities are largely ignored. Multinational oil companies with little stake in the development and environment of Nigeria are responsible for most of the extraction projects and subsequent environmental damage. However, the Nigerian federal government has failed to effectively regulate these projects. Communities in the Niger Delta bear nearly all of the environmental burden of oil extraction, but see very little of the economic benefits. The main environmental impacts of oil extraction are oil spills, land use change, and gas flaring. Oil spills are very common in the Niger Delta. Cleanup efforts are often inadequate, resulting in loss of delicate ecosystems as well as fisheries and farmland. Large tracts of rainforest and mangrove ecosystems have been cleared or degraded by the oil extraction process. Nigeria flares more gas per barrel of oil extracted than any other country in the world, contributing to global warming and creating serious health hazards for communities located near gas flares. Diversification of the Nigerian economy would help to alleviate many of the factors that lead to environmental degradation, including the dependence of the government on oil revenues, high unemployment, and rampant oil theft. Curbing government corruption is also vital to effective regulation of oil extraction. International consumers can help Nigeria head towards a less petroleum-driven future through an increased awareness of the origins of their oil and pressure on the Nigerian federal government and the multinational oil companies to extract oil more conscientiously or even to discontinue oil extraction. But most importantly, the solution to Nigeria’s economic concerns must ultimately come from Nigerians as international influence has been a major contributor to the environmental degradation in the first place.

Gas flaring is the burning of unwanted produced natural gas, which cannot be processed or sold during oil and gas production and processing operations. In past decades, gas flaring was believed to be environmentally tolerable. However, scientists have found that the flaring of gas is an impediment to the environment; this has led to attempting to tackle the problem of gas flaring to advance it to an acceptable level worldwide. In this study, two options were investigated for the utilisation of natural gas that was previously flared. The first option was a theoretical investigation of the use of ceramic perovskite membranes in a tubular reactor for the partial oxidation of methane (flare gas) to syngas. The H2/C product ratio of partial oxidation of methane is 2:1, which is suitable for Fischer-Tropch technology or methanol synthesis. It was found that this option is ideal for converting natural gas into synthesis gas (CO + H2), and it reduces capital and running costs, as these membranes are able to separate oxygen from the air stream with no need for an oxygen separation plant. The novelty of this approach is that the production of syngas using oxygen selective membranes can be achieved at the “Wellhead” with no requirement for the gas to be transported and a consequent reduction in transport costs. The second option was an experimental investigation in using spraying and atomisation techniques for the generation of carbon nanotubes, by spraying simulated catalyst solution droplets into a hydrocarbon gas stream (methane as a carbon source) using a novel “atomiser device” incorporating pressure swirl atomisers. The second part of the investigation was divided into two phases: Phase-I, which was implemented at the Spray Research Group laboratory at the University of Salford, involved a series of experiments which were undertaken to produce fine aerosol droplets that have a number mean diameter of less than or equal to 5 μm, which was successfully achieved. In this phase, water and air were used to simulate the metal catalyst and methane, respectively, which were used in Phase-II. Phase-II trials were implemented at the University of Oxford on a collaborative basis. A furnace was installed underneath of the Phase-I “atomiser device” and the stream of droplet particles fell down through the furnace (400 - 800o C). Reaction inside the furnace occurred to produce the Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT) material. The preliminary results of the experiments in this Phase showed that it is possible to produce SWCNT. This investigation also considered an economic analysis of reducing gas flaring. A Visual Basic (VB) programme was developed to make a cost comparison between the proposed options and current conventional plants. The consideration of the economic analysis demonstrated that the cost of natural gas flaring exceeds those for syngas and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes production.

CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO
Um dos principais fatores para avaliação do valor de uma companhia de petróleo é a sua quantidade de reservas de óleo e gás declaradas. Porém, a estimação de reservas mostra-se um procedimento de grande complexidade, dada a incerteza associada aos volumes, à recuperação, ao desenvolvimento e à comercialidade dos recursos. A abordagem probabilística permite que estas incertezas sejam consideradas na avaliação de reservas de cada projeto. Os projetos, por sua vez, são agregados para a obtenção das reservas consolidadas da companhia. A agregação quando conduzida de forma probabilística gera o chamado efeito portfólio, que representa a redução do desvio-padrão da distribuição agregada de reservas. No contexto da avaliação de reservas, o efeito portfólio pode gerar um aparente aumento nas reservas provadas agregadas. Contudo, diferentes projetos podem compartilhar riscos e por isso a determinação das correlações entre eles é um fator chave para a estimação mais precisa das reservas. Este trabalho propõe apresentar uma metodologia para a avaliação probabilística de reservas baseada em correlações e em acordo com as orientações do SPE-PRMS (2007) e as regras da Securities Exchange Commission (SEC- 2009). A metodologia se dividiu em duas etapas principais: avaliação econômica considerando incertezas nos componentes do fluxo de caixa e agregação probabilística utilizando parcialmente o método AHP para a determinação das correlações entre projetos. Foi criado um sistema para implementação da metodologia e realização de um estudo de caso com dados reais. Os resultados numéricos comprovaram a necessidade da identificação das correlações entre projetos e os impactos do efeito portfólio na agregação probabilística.
The estimation of petroleum reserves entails complex assumptions and calculations, once there is uncertainty associated with volumes, recovery, evelopment and marketability of resources. These uncertainties can be taken into account when a probabilistic approach is employed for the reserves evaluation of each project. Projects are than aggregated to obtain company´s consolidated reserves. The aggregation when conducted probabilistically generates what is known as portfolio effect, which represents the reduction in the standard deviation of the distribution of aggregate reserves. In the context of reserves evaluation, the portfolio effect can increase consolidated proved reserves. However, different exploitation projects may share similar or the same risks, hence the correlation among them is a key factor for estimating more accurately the aggregated reserves. This study proposes a correlation-based methodology for estimating oil reserves probabilistically and is in accordance with the guidelines of the SPE-PRMS (2007) and the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC-2009). The methodology was presented in two major steps: economic assessment considering uncertainty in cash-flow components and probabilistic aggregation using the AHP method partially to determine the correlations among projects. To implement the methodology and run a real data case study a system was created. The numerical results proved the necessity of identifying the correlations among projects and the impacts of the portfolio effect in probabilistic aggregation.

Includes bibliographical references.
Oil and gas is a major source of energy worldwide. Therefore its significance for Nigeria as a major producer cannot be understated. Notwithstanding the huge revenue derived from oil and gas, its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is minimal. This can be ascribed to the fact that there has been minimal indigenous participation in oil and gas projects as this has often been undertaken by the International Oil Companies (IOCs). To address this, the Federal Government awarded marginal fields and oil blocks to independent indigenous oil companies and enacted the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act in 2010. This has been of great benefit to indigenous participation. However, these indigenous companies often encounter a major problem in accessing finance for their projects. This dissertation examines the challenges to financing faced by the independent indigenous oil companies and how project financing will be the best means of financing a project by these companies.

Since 1975 The State of Qatar has assumed full responsibility for the operation and management of its hydrocarbon resources. Economic development to-date has been largely funded by revenues generated from crude oil reserves. However the declining crude oil reserve base in Qatar has been offset by the possession of the largest, proven non-associated gas field in the world. Thus further long-term economic development in Qatar is dependent on the successful exploitation of these natural gas reserves. The State of Qatar through its state-owned corporations has been faced with the appraisal, management and control of multi-billion dollar projects involving major international contractors and many thousands of contract employees. The thesis originally intended to examine specific areas of project management itself, however the experience gained from the author's involvement in many aspects of these natural gas projects raised wider considerations of project management. The thesis presents a survey of oil and gas development in Qatar to the present time and proceeds to examine some of the wider financial implications of committing millions of US dollars to long-term projects of vital national interest. From commercial necessity many figures and details have to remain confidential but it is hoped that the discussion and recommendations contained in the thesis would prove useful in the planning and management of the future large scale industrial projects being considered by the State of Qatar.

Oil and gas extraction have been responsible for 25—28% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in Norway the last 10 years. The part from offshore oil and gas processing, including power production, flaring, and cold ventilation on production platforms, accounted for 20—22%. Exergy analysis is a method for systematic assessment of potential to perform work. It gives the possibility to identify where in a process inefficiencies occur: both losses to the surroundings and internal irreversibilities, and can be used as a tool for pinpointing improvement potential and for evaluation of industrial processes. When used in the petroleum sector, this can motivate more efficient oil and gas extraction, leading to a better utilisation of the resources and less greenhouse gas emissions. The objectives of this thesis were to: (i) establish exergy analyses of the oil and gas processing plants on different types of North Sea platforms; (ii) identify and discuss improvement potentials for each case, compare them and draw general conclusions if possible; and (iii) define meaningful thermodynamic performance parameters for evaluation of the platforms. Four real platforms (Platforms A—D) and one generic platform of the North Sea type were simulated with the process simulators Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Plus. The real platforms were simulated using process data provided by the oil companies. The generic platform was simulated based on literature data, with six different feed compositions (Cases 1—6). These five platforms presented different process conditions; they differed for instance by their exported products, gas-to-oil ratios, reservoir characteristics and recovery strategies. Exergy analyses were carried out, and it was shown that for the cases studied in this work, the power consumption was in the range of 5.5—30 MW, or 20—660 MJ/Sm3 o.e. exported. The heat demand was very small and covered by electric heating for two of the platforms, and higher, but low enough to be covered by waste heat recovery from the power turbines and by heat integration between process streams, for the other three platforms. The main part of the power was consumed by compressors in the gas treatment section for all cases, except Platform B and Case 4 of the generic model. Platform B had lower pressures in the products than in the feeds, resulting in a low compression demand. Case 4 of the generic model had a high content of heavy hydrocarbons in the feed, resulting in large power demand in the oil export pumping section. The recompression and oil pumping sections appeared to be the other major power consumers, together with the seawater injection system, if installed. The total exergy destruction was in the range of 12—32 MW, or 43—517 MJ/Sm3 o.e. exported. Most exergy destruction was related to pressure increase or decrease. Exergy destruction in the gas treatment section made up 8—57% of the total amount, destruction in the recompression section accounted for 11—29%, while 10—28% took place in the production manifolds. Exergy losses due to flaring varied in the range of 0—13 MW. Platforms with high gas-to-oil ratios and high pressures required in the gas product presented the highest power consumption and exergy destruction. Several measures were proposed for reduction of exergy destruction and losses. Two alternatives included use of mature technologies with potential to increase efficiency significantly: (i) limit flaring by installation of gas recovery systems, and (ii) improve gas compression performance by updating/exchanging the compressors. Several thermodynamic performance indicators were discussed, with Platforms A—D as case studies. None of the indicators could at the same time evaluate (i) utilisation of technical achievable potential, (ii) utilisation of theoretical achievable potential and (iii) total use of energy resources. It was concluded that a set of indicators had to be used to evaluate the thermodynamic performance. The following indicators were suggested: BAT efficiency on exergy basis, exergy efficiency, and specific exergy destruction. The formulation of exergy efficiency for offshore processing plants is difficult because of (i) the high throughput of chemical exergy, (ii) the large variety of chemical components in the process streams and (iii) the differences in operating conditions. Approaches found in the literature for similar processes were applied to Platforms A—D. These approaches had several drawbacks when applied to offshore processing plants; they showed low sensitivity to performance improvements, gave inconsistent results, or favoured platforms operating under certain conditions. A new exergy efficiency, called the component-by-component efficiency, was proposed. This efficiency could successfully evaluate the theoretical improvement potential. Eksergianalyse av offshore olje- og gassprosessering Olje- og gassutvinning har vært kilde til 25—28% av de totale klimagassutslippene i Norge de siste 10 årene. Den delen som stammer fra offshore olje- og gassprosessering (kraftproduksjon, fakling og kaldventilering på produksjonsplattformer) stod for 20—22%. Eksergianalyse er en metode for systematisk bestemmelse av potensiale til å utføre arbeid. Det gir mulighet til å identifisere hvor i en prosess ineffektiviteter oppstår: både i form av tap til omgivelsene og i form av interne irreversibiliteter. Det kan brukes som et verktøy for å finne forbedringsmuligheter og for evaluering av industrielle prosesser. Ved bruk innen petroleumssektoren kan dette motivere for mer effektiv olje- og gassutvinning, noe som gir bedre utnyttelse av ressursene og mindre utslipp av klimagasser. Formålet med denne avhandlingen er å: (i) etablere eksergianalyser av olje- og gassprosessering på ulike typer Nordsjø-plattformer; (ii) identifisere og diskutere forbedringspotensialer for hvert tilfelle, sammenligne dem og trekke generelle konklusjoner om mulig; og (iii) definere meningsfulle termodynamiske ytelsesindikatorer for evaluering av plattformene. Fire virkelige plattformer (Plattform A—D) og en generisk Nordsjø-type plattform er simulert med prosessimulatorene Aspen HYSYS og Aspen Plus. De virkelige plattformene er simulert ved å bruke prosessdata stilt til rådighet av operatørene av plattformene. Den generiske plattformen er simulert basert på litteraturdata, med seks ulike fødesammensetninger (Case 1—6). Disse fem plattformene har ulike prosessbetingelser; de har for eksempel ulike eksporterte produkter, gass/olje-forhold, reservoaregenskaper og utvinningsstrategier. Eksergianalyser viser at for tilfellene studert i dette arbeidet er kraftforbruket i størrelsesorden 5,5—30 MW, eller 20—660 MJ/Sm3 o.e. eksportert. Varmebehovet er svært lite og blir dekket med elektrisitet for to av plattformene, og noe høyere men lavt nok til å bli dekket med varmegjenvinning fra kraftturbinene og ved varmeveksling mellom prosesstrømmer for de tre andre plattformene. Hoveddelen av kraften blir konsumert av kompressorene i gassbehandlingsseksjonen for alle tilfellene bortsett fra Plattform B og Case 4 i den generiske modellen. Plattform B har lavere trykk i produktstrømmene enn i fødestrømmene, noe som resulterer i lavt behov for kompresjon. Case 4 i den generiske modellen har et høyt innhold av tunge hydrokarboner i føden, noe som resulterer i høyt kraftbehov i seksjonen for eksportpumping. Seksjonene for rekompresjon og eksportpumping viser seg å være de andre viktigste kraftforbrukerene, sammen med systemet for sjøvannsinjeksjon hvis dette er installert. Den totale ekserginedbrytingen er 12—32 MW, eller 43—517 MJ/Sm3 o.e. eksportert. Mest ekserginedbryting er relatert til trykkøking eller trykkreduksjon. Ekserginedbryting i gassbehandlingsdelen utgjør 8—57% av den totale mengden, nedbryting i rekompresjonsseksjonen utgjør 11-29%, mens nedbryting i produksjonsmanifoldene utgjør 10—28%. Eksergitap på grunn av fakling varierer mellom 0—13 MW. Plattformene med høye gass/olje-forhold og behov for høyt trykk i gassproduktene har høyest kraftforbruk og ekserginedbryting. Ulike tiltak for reduksjon av ekserginedbryting og eksergitap er foreslått. To alternativer inkluderer bruk av modne teknologier og har potensiale til å øke effektiviteten betydelig: (i) begrensning av fakling av gass ved installasjon av gassgjenvinningssystemer, og (ii) forbedring av gasskompresjonen ved å oppdatere/bytte ut kompressorer. Flere termodynamiske ytelsesindikatorer er diskutert med utgangspunkt i Plattform A—D. Ingen av indikatorene kan på samme tid evaluere (i) utnyttelse av teknisk oppnåelig potensiale, (ii) utnyttelse av teoretisk potensiale og (iii) total bruk av energiressurser. Det konkluderes med at et sett med indikatorer må brukes for å evaluere termodynamisk ytelse. De følgende indikatorene foreslås: BAT (best tilgjengelig teknologi) effektivitet på eksergibasis, eksergieffektivitet og spesifikk ekserginedbryting. Formuleringen av eksergieffektivitet for offshore olje- og gassprosessering er utfordrende på grunn av (i) den høye gjennomgangen av kjemisk eksergi, (ii) den store variasjonen av kjemiske komponenter i prosesstrømmene og (iii) de store forskjellene i driftsbetingelser. En ny type eksergieffektivitet foreslås. Denne effektiviteten kan evaluere utnyttelsen av det teoretiske potensialet på tross av punktene nevnt ovenfor.

COORDENAÇÃO DE APERFEIÇOAMENTO DO PESSOAL DE ENSINO SUPERIOR
A apreciação ou crescimento de reservas de óleo e gás é importante para uma empresa petrolífera, pois ela indica quanto uma reserva provada crescerá desde o início da produção até um determinado ano. Cada campo apresenta uma apreciação própria que depende de diversos fatores que fazem com que as reservas que antes eram classificadas como prováveis e possíveis sejam reclassificadas agora como provadas. Esta dissertação propõe determinar a apreciação de reservas para óleo e gás com base em séries históricas de campos com características semelhantes, calculando a apreciação média e a elas associando as incertezas da previsão por meio de intervalo de confiança para cada ano após o início da produção, e assim, determinando curvas delimitadoras do intervalo. Dos modelos estudados que satisfazem à condição de monotonicidade não-crescente (a taxa de apreciação anual diminui com o tempo), têm-se o logarítmico e o hiperbólico, sendo que o logarítmico foi o que teve melhor ajuste aos dados observados. Entretanto não se deve descartar o modelo hiperbólico, pois ele tem um apelo teórico e pode ter melhor ajuste do que o modelo logarítmico dependendo dos dados. Esse estudo é de caráter teórico, pois não foi possível obter dados reais de reservas.
Oil and gas reserve appreciation, or growth, is a phenomenon important to petroleum exploratory and producing companies. If well understood, the companies will improve their reserves projection into the future. Each field presents a particular appreciation that depends on various factors that move resources from an initial classification into proved reserve-classification. This thesis proposes a methodology for determining oil and gas reserves appreciation based on historical time series data from similar fields, calculating year to year average appreciation, and associating to each average a confidence interval. Two models were selected for adjustment (logarithmic and hyperbolic) both presenting monotonic non- increasing year to year growth. The logarithmic model presented better adjustment to a limited data-set but hyperbolic should not be discarded both because it has desirable features and may produce better future projections. The difficulties in obtaining adequate real historical data, and other kinds of information on reserves time series impeded further statistical analysis.

Oil and gas will play a central role in the global energy system for the foreseeable future. However, uncertainty surrounds both the availability of and demand for these fuels, and as a result, there are quite disparate viewpoints on the magnitude of this role. The aim of this thesis is to identify, understand, quantify and, where possible, minimise the sources of this uncertainty, and to investigate the implications that such uncertainties have on the future of oil and gas. There are two areas of original contribution to knowledge. First, while numerous studies have examined the availability of various subsets of oil and gas, often in a deterministic manner, this work provides a full description of the uncertainty in the resource potential of all individual categories of oil and gas. This includes estimating the uncertainty in resource availability at different costs of production, and also examining the resource potential of categories that have been previously overlooked. Second, the implications of this and other major sources of uncertainty have never been investigated using models that incorporate both supply and demand-side dynamics. Two models are used for this purpose. The first is an existing energy systems model, TIAM-UCL, which has been substantially modified to allow a more accurate characterisation of long-term oil and gas production and consumption. The second is an oil-sector specific model that has been developed named the 'Bottom-Up Geological and Economic Oil field production model' (BUEGO). This is capable of examining oil production potential to 2035 and is used to examine shorter-term and more sector specific uncertainties.

The UK sector of the North Sea is a mature oil and gas basin subjected to some of the harshest offshore environments with a majority of the oil and gas installations approaching or having exceeded their original design life, often specified as 25 years. It is likely that the operation of these installations will continue for a substantial period in the foreseeable future. However, the ageing nature of these installations present significant challenges to the delivery of high standards of health and safety required by the UK Health and Safety Executive. The issue of ageing installations has been shown to be an important factor in offshore incidents and accidents, leading to an increased risk of accidental loss of hydrocarbon and failures due to equipment deterioration. Two major hazards resulting from ignition of accidental hydrocarbon release are fires and explosions. Failure to minimise the effects of fires and explosions can bring about significant damage to the structural integrity of offshore installations and pose a risk to personnel safety as evidenced by the 1988 Piper Alpha Disaster and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill. This thesis presents a practical tool that can be used to predict the costs, risks and service reliability of any given asset management policy for an offshore oil and gas installation. The tool is implemented using a standard Petri Net technique with already adopted and newly proposed high level extensions, and fluid flow modelling technique. The tool is further divided into two sub models that work in conjunction with one another: (1) the Petri Net based Offshore Safety System Degradation and Maintenance Model and (2) the Offshore Fire and Explosion Model based on fluid flow modelling techniques. The aim of the Offshore Safety System Degradation and Maintenance Model is to concurrently simulate the degradation, failure, inspection and maintenance of four safety systems which includes the fire and gas detection system, process isolation, process blowdown, and the deluge system. Simulation of the model generates a variety of statistics such as the estimated operational costs and unavailability associated with implementing any given asset management policy. The Offshore Fire and Explosion Model is then used to model the occurrence of a hydrocarbon leak from a process vessel located within three enclosed modules; wellhead, separation and compression, of an offshore installation. The aim of this model is to predict the frequencies of fires and explosions in the event that the safety systems previously modelled in the Offshore Safety System Degradation and Maintenance Model fail to function on demand in the presence of an ignition source. The model utilises fluid flow modelling to calculate parameters such as the hydrocarbon discharge rate, gas cloud build-up and dispersion, oil-pool build-up and reduction. These parameters can then be used to predict the magnitude of the fires and explosions in terms of the flame length produced in the event of a fire and the overpressures generated in the event of an explosion. The results and statistics generated are highly beneficial to offshore asset operations managers as they can be used to predict the number of maintenance interventions necessary to ensure safety systems are in an acceptable condition. From this, associated costs can be determined enabling offshore managers to allocate resources and budget accordingly. Finally, an optimisation study is carried out using Genetic Algorithm to identify the optimum inspection, maintenance and repair strategy for the offshore safety systems with an acceptable risk level. The methodology presented in this research considers the offshore safety systems and the processes described above in more detail compared to previous literature associated with asset management offshore oil and gas installation. Additionally, the research demonstrates the suitability of Petri Nets for integrating fire and explosion modelling within the asset management framework which is first of its kind. The model can be successfully used to predict costs, risks and service reliability, and to support asset management decisions when the model is implemented in an optimisation framework.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Automação e Sistemas, Florianópolis, 2015.
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Com a crescente demanda por energia fóssil as operadoras petrolíferas têm buscado determinar planos operacionais que otimizam a produção dos campos em operação para satisfazer a demanda do mercado e reduzir os custos operacionais. Neste contexto, a pesquisa operacional tem se mostrado uma importante ferramenta para determinação dos planos de produção de curto prazo para campos de petróleo complexos. Alguns trabalhos já desenvolveram estratégias para a otimização integrada da produção que visam auxiliar engenheiros de produção e operadores a atingir condições de operação ótimas. Estes avanços científicos atestam o potencial da área de otimização integrada da produção de campos, justificando a busca por estratégias de otimização global e integradas de ativos. Contudo, a incerteza dos parâmetros que caracterizam o reservatório, os poços, fluidos e os diversos processos de produção não vem sendo considerada pelos modelos e algoritmos de otimização da produção diária. Considerando os modelos de produção de curto prazo, estas incertezas podem ser atribuídas a erros de medição , comportamento oscilatório dos sistemas, modelos imprecisos, entre outros. A influência da incerteza dos parâmetros em problemas de otimização tem, desde tempos, sido foco da comunidade de programação matemática. E já foi verificado que soluções de problemas de otimização podem apresentar significativa sensibilidade à pertubações nos parâmetros do dado problema, podendo levar a soluções não factíveis, subótimas ou ambas. Assim, buscando tornar as abordagens de otimização existentes mais confiáveis e robustas às incertezas intrínsecas dos sistemas de produção, esta dissertação investiga a modelagem e tratamento de incertezas na otimização diária da produção e propõe formulações em programação matemática para otimização robusta da produção de poços operados por gas-lift. As formulações representam curvas amostradas através de dados simulados ou medidos que refletem as incertezas dos sistemas de produção. Estas representações levam a formulações robustas em programação matemática inteira mista obtidas pela aproximação das curvas de produção através de linearização por partes. Além disso, este trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma analise computacional comparativa da aplicação da formulação robusta e da formulação nominal a um campo de petróleo em ambiente de simulação, porém considerando simuladores multifásicos amplamente empregados pela indústria do petróleo e gás, que representam a fenomenologia muito próximo da realidade. O primeiro capítulo apresenta a problemática em que estão envolvidos os desenvolvimentos realizados nesta dissertação e um resumo dos capítulos subsequentes. No segundo capítulo alguns conceitos fundamentais são apresentados para a compreensão do trabalho desenvolvido. Este capítulo é dividido em três partes. A primeira parte inicia apresentando brevemente a indústria de petróleo e gás com uma perspectiva histórica, econômica e dos processos envolvidos. Na sequência são expostos conceitos básicos de engenharia de petróleo necessários para o entendimento do sistema de produção utilizado ao longo a dissertação  i.e. gas-lift. Finalmente, o problema de otimização da produção é situado dentro do problema maior, que é o gerenciamento completo das operações de um campo de petróleo, seguido de uma revisão da literatura no que se refere a abordagens clássicas para otimização da produção de campos operados por gas-lift. A segunda parte é uma descrição compacta sobre modelagem de problemas de otimização utilizando programação matemática e na menção dos métodos de solução deste tipo de problema utilizados na parte experimental desta dissertação. A terceira parte começa com uma revisão sobre incerteza em problemas de otimização e sobre as decisões de modelagem enfrentadas quando na presença de problemas de otimização incertos. Na sequência o paradigma de otimização robusta é introduzido e é apresentada uma compilação de alguns dos principais resultados da área de otimização robusta linear. Além disso, ao fim, alguns pontos específicos da teoria de otimização robusta são apresentados pela suas relevâncias para o desenvolvimento da teoria dos capítulos seguintes. O terceiro capítulo inicia com uma discussão sobre as origens das incertezas nos modelos de produção para então prover uma revisão bibliográfica dos poucos trabalhos que mencionam ou lidam com incerteza em sistemas de produção. Na sequência, a incerteza é examinada na perspectiva do problema de otimização. Um sistema simples é usado para exemplificar a metodologia de otimização robusta desenvolvida nesta dissertação. O quarto capítulo apresenta dois problemas padrões de otimização da produção, um contendo poços satélites e outro com poços e completação submarina. Para ambos uma formulação em programação linear inteira mista é descrita considerando valores nominais para todos os parâmetros. Então, para cada problema uma reformulação robusta é implementada considerando incerteza nas curvas de produção do poço. A metodologia utilizada para o primeiro problema é a mesma detalhada no capítulo três, e para o segundo uma extensão da metodologia é proposta para poder lidar com restrições de igualdade incertas. No quinto capítulo são apresentados resultados experimentais de um problema de otimização da produção de um campo com poços satélites. Os resultados obtidos com otimização clássica (nominal) e com otimização robusta são então comparados em um campo de produção sintético instanciado em um simulador multifásico comercial. A solução robusta se mostrou indicada para cenários de operação mais críticos onde factibilidade e segurança são prioridade. No capítulo final uma análise dos resultados obtidos na dissertação é feita sob a perspectiva do possível emprego das técnicas desenvolvidas na indústria de óleo e gás. Apesar de à primeira vista os resultados serem conservadores e de sua utilização parecer limitada, existe potencial para a metodologia ser empregada no caso de situações que priorizam segurança. Além disso a metodologia aqui desenvolvida pode servir como ponto inicial para pesquisas e desenvolvimentos futuros. Uma breve descrição de possíveis trabalhos futuros é feita ao final deste capítulo. O apêndice traz a descrição de algoritmos de amostragem de curvas côncavas desenvolvidos para os experimentos numéricos realizados na dissertação.

Abstract : Managing production of complex oil fields with multiple wells and coupled constraints remains a challenge for oil and gas operators. Some technical works developed strategies for integrated production optimization to assist production engineers in reaching best operating conditions. However, these works have neglected the uncertainties in the well-performance curves and production processes, which may have a significant impact on the operating practices. The uncertainties may be attributed to measurement errors, oscillating behavior, and model inaccuracy, among others. To this end, this dissertation investigates how uncertainty might be considered in daily production optimization and proposes formulations in mathematical programming for robust production optimization of gas-lifted oil fields. The formulations represent system-measured and simulated sample curves that reflect the underlying uncertainties of the production system. The representations lead to robust mixed-integer linear programming formulations obtained from piecewise-linear approximation of the production functions. Further, this work presents results from a computational analysis of the application of the robust and nominal formulations to a representative oil fields available in simulation software.

The turnover cost of specialized employees in the oil and gas industry can exceed 400% of an employee's annual salary. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore successful strategies that oil and gas company managers used to retain specialized employees. The specific population for the study was 8 managers from 4 oil and gas companies in a metropolitan city in the southern United States, which included 5 hiring managers and 3 engineering managers who had demonstrated success in retaining specialized employees. The conceptual lens used in this research study was the job embeddedness theory. Study data were collected through semistructured interviews, observations of participants' nonverbal cues, a review of company documents, and organizational websites. The interview data were analyzed using Yin's 5 steps for qualitative data analysis. The analysis resulted in 3 themes: (a) leadership engagement improved specialized employee retention, (b) flexibility through work–life balance improved specialized employee retention, and (c) monitoring and assessing retention through research tools and data analysis improved specialized employee retention. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to provide successful strategies for oil and gas company managers to retain specialized employees, which may contribute to improving promotion from within the oil and gas industry, reducing the study location area unemployment rates, and improving local job economies.

This Thesis presents an investigation of geothermal energy production and utilization for electricity generation on the petroleum fields. According to the global energy market in Russia, the leading position takes oil and gas industry. Experts say that most of large petroleum deposits are depleted and the water cut reaches up to 80-90%. To develop such fields and deposits is not economic attractive, that is why wells with high water cut, more than 95%, are turned into abandoned wells. The technology of obtaining geothermal energy from abandoned wells allows reusing already drilled deep wells to generate electricity in an environmentally friendly way. It is especially relevant in oilfields isolated from the grids. In this work the scheme of geothermal energy extraction and utilization is presented. Based on the knowledge of heat exchange in a well and foreign experience a mathematical model describing heat exchange between injected fluid and surrounding rocks in a double pipe was developed. Apart from that the main factors affecting the efficiency of geothermal heat extraction and electricity generation were thoroughly examined. Furthermore, the economic and ecological effect from electricity production by ORC was defined.
Denna avhandling presenterar en undersökning av produktion av geotermisk energi och utnyttjande av elproduktion på petroleumsområdena. Enligt den globala energimarknaden i Ryssland tar ledande position olje- och gasindustrin. Experter säger att de flesta stora oljefyndigheter är utarmade och vattnets snitt når upp till 80-90%. Att utveckla sådana fält och insättningar är inte ekonomiskt attraktiva, det är därför brunnar med högvattenskärning, mer än 95%, förvandlas till övergivna brunnar. Tekniken för att erhålla geotermisk energi från övergivna brunnar möjliggör återanvändning av redan borrade djupa brunnar för att generera el på ett miljövänligt sätt. Det är särskilt relevant i oljefält isolerade från nätet. I detta arbete presenteras systemet för geotermisk energiutvinning och -utnyttjande. Baserat på kunskapen om värmeväxling i en brunn och utländsk erfarenhet utvecklades en matematisk modell som beskriver värmeväxling mellan injicerad vätska och omgivande stenar i ett dubbelrör. Bortsett från detta undersöktes de viktigaste faktorerna som påverkar effektiviteten av geotermisk utvinning och elproduktion. Vidare definierades den ekonomiska och ekologiska effekten av elproduktion av ORC.

The control of excessive water production in oil and gas producing wells is of increasing importance to the field operator, primarily when trying to maintain the survivability of a mature field from shut in. During the last two decades many chemicals have been studied and applied under the name of relative permeability modifier (RPM) to combat this problem. These chemicals were mostly bullheaded individually into the affected zones, consequently their application resulted in low to medium success, particularly in treating reservoirs suffering from matrix flow. It has been found that the disproportionate permeability reduction depends on the amount of polymer dispersed or absorbed by the porous rock. If single polymers are employed to treat excessive water production in a matrix reservoir they cannot penetrate deep into the formation rock because the polymer will start to build as a layer on the surface of the rock grains. As a result the placement of polymer into the formation will no be piston like and the dispersion over the rock pores will be uneven. To improve water shutoff technology a method of injecting chemicals sequentially is recommended provided that the chemical’s viscosity is increasing successively with the chemicals injected.Experimentally confirmed, injecting chemicals sequentially provides better results for conformance control. The value of post treatment water mobility is conspicuously lowered by the method of applying injecting chemicals sequentially in comparison with the single chemical injection method. For instance, the residual resistance factor to water (Frrw) at the first cycle of brine flushing for this method is approximately five times higher than the Frrw obtained by injecting only one single chemical. Furthermore, for the second cycle of brine flushing Frrw is still higher by a ratio of about 2.5. In addition to this improvement residual resistance factor to oil Frro for this method is less than two which has been considered as the upper limit for conformance control in matrix reservoir. Accordingly injecting chemical sequentially can be applied for enhancing relative permeability modifier performance in matrix reservoir.

The control of excessive water production in oil and gas producing wells is of increasing importance to the field operator, primarily when trying to maintain the survivability of a mature field from shut in. During the last two decades many chemicals have been studied and applied under the name of relative permeability modifier (RPM) to combat this problem. These chemicals were mostly bullheaded individually into the affected zones, consequently their application resulted in low to medium success, particularly in treating reservoirs suffering from matrix flow. It has been found that the disproportionate permeability reduction depends on the amount of polymer dispersed or absorbed by the porous rock. If single polymers are employed to treat excessive water production in a matrix reservoir they cannot penetrate deep into the formation rock because the polymer will start to build as a layer on the surface of the rock grains. As a result the placement of polymer into the formation will no be piston like and the dispersion over the rock pores will be uneven. To improve water shutoff technology a method of injecting chemicals sequentially is recommended provided that the chemical’s viscosity is increasing successively with the chemicals injected.
Experimentally confirmed, injecting chemicals sequentially provides better results for conformance control. The value of post treatment water mobility is conspicuously lowered by the method of applying injecting chemicals sequentially in comparison with the single chemical injection method. For instance, the residual resistance factor to water (Frrw) at the first cycle of brine flushing for this method is approximately five times higher than the Frrw obtained by injecting only one single chemical. Furthermore, for the second cycle of brine flushing Frrw is still higher by a ratio of about 2.5. In addition to this improvement residual resistance factor to oil Frro for this method is less than two which has been considered as the upper limit for conformance control in matrix reservoir. Accordingly injecting chemical sequentially can be applied for enhancing relative permeability modifier performance in matrix reservoir.

Technology has proven to be a pivotal factor that helps to drive organizational effectiveness, because it helps to automate processes, improve speed of data processing, enhance organizational performance and ensure ease of exchange of information across the organization. One of such emerging technologies that is fast shaping the organizational landscape is cloud computing; and this research focused on the relevance of this technology to the oil and gas sector, the benefits, risks and analysing how the implications of adopting this technology can be addressed. Also, it has been established that adopting cloud based solutions is related to outsourcing, and this implies that another firm (cloud provider) will manage the function or process that is migrated to the cloud. Therefore, this research is important within the Oil and gas sector because the success of adopting this technology in the sector is based on how these companies can manage the diverse inter-firm relationships with cloud providers. To draw new insights, relational view approach was applied to gain the understanding of how managing these relationships can ensure successful adoption of the technology because existing literatures lack in-depth discussion on how organizations can manage multiple cloud deployments (especially in the Oil sector). Furthermore, the research aimed at understanding the current state of cloud deployment in this sector, determine the most suitable deployment model(s), and strategies for effective adoption, taking cognizance of the complexity of the operations within the industry. This research focused on the Nigerian Oil industry as the research setting for gathering data for this research. This is important because this sector is the major source of revenue for Government in Nigeria and any approach that helps in achieving performance improvement will automatically translate into more benefits for the country and other stakeholders in the sector. In view of this, this research was conducted qualitatively by conducting interviews for participants within the Nigerian Oil and gas sector. These participants cut across Oil exploration and production companies, Cloud providers, and Government/Regulator agencies. The data gathering was focused on understanding the extent of adoption within the sector, current usage of this technology (if any), implications, how the transitioning is being coordinated and risk and strategies currently being deployed. The findings of this research show a low level of adoption of cloud solutions, despite the moderate level of awareness of this technology. This low level of adoption was premised on some factors ranging from the conservative culture in the industry, infrastructure challenges (peculiar with Nigeria), suitability of cloud solutions for specific core oil and gas operations, security and confidentiality concerns, lack of suitable corporate strategies, regulatory concerns, just to mention a few. This research analysed these findings critically and proposed the need for corporate strategy, effective stakeholder collaboration and management and how to adopt suitable governance framework. Furthermore, the need for National cloud policy and how to address infrastructure challenges which are inhibiting cloud adoption in the research area (Nigeria) were also addressed.

This thesis presents an in-depth study of the gas freeing of marine crude oil tanks using numerical simulation, beginning with a general summary of the problem, followed by an outline of the objectives of this work and the main difficulties involved. To outline essential background, a review of numerical methods, fluid flow, and related physical mechanisms has been undertaken, in addition to related ventilation fields, jet and jet impingement, and tanker-borne ventilation, in order to determine the state of the art and draw useful parallels between different ventilative fields, as well as identifying potential areas for model validation. A room-ventilation test case was studied in order to demonstrate the numerical method. It was found that assuming adiabatic walls and ignoring radiation resulted in highly idealised temperature predictions, and that radiation played a large part in enhancing vertical temperature prediction by redistributing thermal energy. For the gas-freeing analysis, the geometric models and solution procedures are introduced before simulation results presented and validated with analytical jet models and impingement penetration parameters. Analysis showed that the internal temperature of the tank was approximately homogeneous, allowing the tank to be considered isothermal. 2D simulations showed that after an initial period of time, the relative concentration distribution reaches steady state with decreasing average concentration as gas-freeing continues. Discussion of the results followed, examining aspects surrounding heat transfer and the choice of turbulence model, analysing the differences in the results between the first and secondmoment closure schemes and justification of assuming isothermal conditions. The variation in concentration was examined, and an analytical expression was derived which approximates the reduction in average gas concentration decay due to gas-freeing. It has been shown that double-hulled construction renders the internal temperature variation to around 10% of the temperature difference between the sea and deck. During the gasfreeing process proper, it was shown that after any stratified layer has been eroded and a stable flow field established, the relative concentration distribution remains constant. Gas freeing times were shown to be heavily dependent on the volume flux (and thus air change rate), and mathematical relations derived in order to provide approximately predict the time to gas free a crude oil tank (COT) given particular initial conditions.

This work consisted in the study and application of volumetric Deep Learning (DL) approach to seismic data provided by Eni S.p.A., with an industrial utility perspective. After a series of fruitful meetings with the Upstream & Technical Services team, we clearly defined the final objective of this approach: the automatic search for geological structures such as turbidite channel-bases, as potential regions of interest for the Oil & Gas industry. Therefore, we defined a workflow based on the training of volumetric DL models over seismic horizons containing channel bases providing “windrose” input patches, i.e. a planar approximation of a three-dimensional volume. All components and sources of criticality were systematically analyzed. For this purpose we studied: the effect of preprocessing, the contribution of the dataset augmentation, the sensitivity for the channel-base manual segmentation, the effect of the spatial expansion of the input patches. Evaluating both qualitatively and quantitatively through K-fold cross-validation. This work showed: how an appropriate preprocessing of the original data substantially helps DL models, how the dataset augmentation is fundamental for good model generalization given the poor representativity of the accessible examples compared to all possible configurations, how this DL approach is susceptible to the channel-base segmentation imposing to invest sufficient effort in the generation of reliable labels, how the size of input patches must be large enough to allow models to perceive around each voxel the structure concavity and the texture of any sediment infill. We conclude that the volumetric DL approach developed in this work has proved to be very promising.

Produced water handling has been an issue of concern for oil and gas producers as it is one of the major factors that cause abandonment of the producing well. The development of effective produced water management strategies poses a big challenge to the oil and gas industry today. The conversion of produced water into irrigation or fresh water provides a cost effective tool to handle excessive amounts of the produced water. In this research we proposed on-site produced water treatment units configured to achieve maximum processing throughput. We studied various advanced separation techniques to remove oil and dissolved solids from the produced water. We selected adsorption as the oil removing technique and Reverse Osmosis (RO) as the dissolved solids removing technique as being the best for our purpose. We performed experiments to evaluate operating parameters for both adsorption and RO units to accomplish maximum removal of oil and dissolved solids from the produced water. We compared the best models fitting the experimental data for both the processes, then analyzed and simulated the performance of integrated produced water treatment which involves adsorption columns and RO units. The experimental results show that the adsorption columns remove more than 90% of the oil and RO units remove more than 95% of total dissolved solids from the produced water. The simulation results show that the proper integration and configuration of adsorption and RO units can provide up to 80% efficiency for a processing throughput of 6-8 gallons per minute of produced water. From an oil and gas producer’s viewpoint output from the produced water treatment system is a revenue generating source. The system is flexible and can be modified for the applications such as rangeland restoration, reservoir recharge and agricultural use.

While there were overtures from each country to develop a more formal accord to govern the trade of oil and natural gas at different times since 1958, Canada rejected that option in 1974 when it decided to phase out oil exports to the U.S. The main purpose of this research is to trace the development and evolution of Canada-U.S. oil and gas relations from the beginning of the informal continental relationship in 1959, through attempts to formalize a continental oil and gas agreement in the late 1960s, to the initial reversal of continentalism by Canada in 1974. This study examines and compares the changing influence of the explanatory variables of interest groups, international forces, national security, economics, ideas, and personalities on the energy decision- and policy-making processes of Canada and the U.S. between 1958 and 1974. Four key decisions or events that can be considered turning points in the Canada-U.S. oil and gas relationship are analysed and include: Canada's exemption to the American Mandatory Oil Import Program (MOIP); Canada's National Oil Policy (NOP); the near revocation of Canada's MOIP exemption; and Canada's decision to phase out oil exports. These events and relationships are situated in the larger context of interdependence, intergovernmental and transgovernmental relations, and the altered bureaucratic structures of governments in both countries over this period of time. Although decisions concerning Canada-U.S. oil and gas relations, and the pursuit and reversal of continentalist policies, were influenced by concerns regarding the pressure of various interest groups, international forces, national security, and changing economic and ideological circumstances; in the period examined here, the personalities of and personal relationships between Presidents and Prime Ministers, and the actions of key officials, as well as their transgovernmental networks across the border, often made the difference in determining what policy or approach was chosen when and why.
Arts, Faculty of
History, Department of
Graduate

Oil and gas industry operations place large pressures on the local environment and inhabitants. However, the continued rise in the demand for useable energy and resources has resulted in further production pressures for oil and gas companies. Meeting these demands comes with high risks and costs to both society and the environment. Oil and gas companies are thus faced with the challenge of meeting the world’s expanding energy demands while minimizing the negative externalities associated with these operations. Many of the risks these corporations face are site specific, requiring detailed background research and precautionary measures that cannot be solved using a generalized framework. This paper aims to address these environmental operating concerns through risk management recommendations for oil and gas companies. If oil and gas corporations are able to embed environmental concerns into all aspects of daily operations, these companies can achieve socially beneficial outcomes, while avoiding potential disasters and more stringent legislation.

This study has developed a new life-of-field, goal orientated process of analysis called Holistic Environmental Assessment (HEA). HEA assesses the total environmental risk associated with a proposed oil and gas field development. It prioritises environmental risks and identifies cost effective strategies to reduce them. For the first time the process was applied to a real 'case study' field development programme to test its effectiveness. The application identified that it is a useful tool to help design eco-efficient and costeffective oil and gas field developments. Furthermore, it was discovered that much of the information required by HEA could be obtained in a quick and user-friendly format. The new assessment process was developed after a review of the interaction of the offshore oil and gas industry with the environment, and techniques employed to evaluate this interaction. The review identified that the industry interacts with the environment in a number of different ways, and that the level of interaction transgresses the boundaries of sea, air and land locally, regionally and internationally. Legislation and public concern demand no damage to the environment from offshore oil and gas field exploration and development. UK environmental legislation and people's expectations for environmental performance are in a state of change. This change, coupled with the uncertainty over how resilient the environment is to perturbation, and the increasing risk of environmental liability presents a need for operators to clearly manage environmental information and assess total environmental risk. It was discovered that Environmental Assessment, Lifecycle Analysis and Cost Benefit Analysis, when used separately, failed to assess total environmental risk, but when used in combination under the HEA process could. Many organisations, such as the British Medical Association, European Oilfield Speciality Chemicals Association, the Royal Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (Norway) and Shell Expro, now recognise that a holistic approach is essential to assess total environmental risk. The author proposes that HEA would be effective as a software tool to analyse different environmental risk mitigation systems. This would facilitate the identification of a system that steers an operator towards the triple bottom line of Sustainable Development.

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, 2017.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-274).
This thesis addresses the challenges brought forth by the shale oil and gas revolution through the application of formal optimization techniques. Two frameworks, each addressing the monetization of shale oil and gas resources at different ends of the scale spectrum, are developed. Importantly, these frameworks accounted for both the dynamic and stochastic aspects of the problem at hand. The first framework involves the development of a strategy to allocate small-scale mobile plants to monetize associated or stranded gas. The framework is applied to a case study in the Bakken shale play where large quantities of associated gas are flared. Optimal strategies involving the continuous redeployment of plants are analyzed in detail. The value of the stochastic solution with regards to uncertainty in resource availability is determined and it indicates that mobile plants possess a high degree of flexibility to handle uncertainty. The second framework is a comprehensive supply chain optimization model to determine optimal shale oil and gas infrastructure investments in the United States. Assuming two different scenario sets over a time horizon of twenty-five years, the features of the optimal infrastructure investments and associated operating decisions are determined. The importance of incorporating uncertainty into the framework is demonstrated and the relationship between the stability of the stochastic solution and the variance of the distribution of future parameters is analyzed. The thesis also analyzes the Continuous Flow Stirred Tank Reactor (CFSTR) equivalence principle as a method for screening and targeting favorable reaction pathways, with applications directed towards gas-to-liquids conversion. The principle is found to have limited usefulness when applied to series reactions due to an unphysical independence of the variables which allows for the maximization of production of any intermediate species regardless of the magnitude of its rate of depletion. A reformulation which eliminates the unphysical independence is proposed. However, the issue of arbitrary truncation of downstream reactions remains.
by Siah Hong Tan.
Ph. D.

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.

Relatório de estágio do mestrado em Economia (Economia Industrial), apresentado à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de Maria Rita Vieira Martins e Ricardo Clérigo.
O presente relatório insere-se no âmbito do estágio curricular integrado no Mestrado em Economia da Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, realizado no período de 1 de setembro a 7 de dezembro de 2015, na área de Smart Homes, Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) platform da empresa ISA – Intelligent Sensing Anywhere, S.A.. O objetivo deste relatório consiste na apresentação das principais variáveis que influenciam a adoção de produtos Smart Homes nos distribuidores de gás, assim como, na identificação e análise das características relevantes para a definição do modelo de negócio conducente à colocação de uma nova gama de produtos da ISA no mercado global, tendo uma maior incidência nos mercados considerados estratégicos para a empresa, nomeadamente, EUA, Canadá e Europa. Desta análise conclui-se que novas tendências têm emergido no mercado de Gasóleo de Petróleo Liquefeito (GPL), tornando a fidelização de clientes um aspeto crítico para as utilities de Oil & Gas. Neste contexto, e como forma de inovar o seu portefólio, a ISA desenvolveu uma solução na área de Smart Homes para o mercado de Oil & Gas, com o intuito de se diferenciar face à concorrência. Elaborou-se um Business Model Canvas para o novo produto da ISA, tendo em consideração duas perspetivas (retenção e aquisição de clientes). O objetivo passou por estudar qual a melhor estratégia a ser utilizada pelos clientes da ISA para que estes consigam endereçar, de um modo diferenciador, o seu mercado residencial. Deste modo, a ISA tem a preocupação não só de servir o seu cliente, mas também de evidenciar o melhor modo de interação com o consumidor final. Este tipo de interação é designado por Business-to-Business-to-Consumer (B2B2C). Concluiu-se, a partir da análise dos dois Business Model Canvas, que a abordagem a ter relativamente à aquisição e retenção de clientes é muito semelhante, embora pareça preferível que as empresas optem por focar-se na retenção dos seus clientes, já que a aquisição de um novo cliente pode envolver um elevado custo.