Journal articles on the topic 'Petroleum industry and trade – Botswana'

Abstract We study the effects of domestic trade liberalisation on labour markets in Botswana. South Africa is the dominant member of the Southern Africa Customs Union. As such, when South Africa liberalised trade in the 1990s, this induced large and plausibly exogenous tariff reductions for the other customs union members, including Botswana. Using labour force surveys from Botswana spanning a decade, we find that trade liberalisation did not affect the relative size of industries in terms of employment. However, trade liberalisation had effects within industries. We find an increase in the prevalence of working in an informal firm and self-employment, but mixed evidence of effects on unemployment. Hours worked decreased in response to trade liberalisation, partially driven by the movement of workers to informal firms. Despite large increases in aggregate income, trade liberalisation is associated with a reduction in monthly income, but the results are imprecise. Our results also suggest that a positive export demand shock, the 2000 African Growth and Opportunities Act, is associated with a reduction in employment in informal firms in the clothing industry.

John Hartwell is Head of the Resources Division in the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, Canberra Australia. The Resources Division provides advice to the Australian Government on policy issues, legislative changes and administrative matters related to the petroleum industry, upstream and downstream and the coal and minerals industries. In addition to his divisional responsibilities, he is the Australian Commissioner for the Australia/East Timor Joint Petroleum Development Area and Chairman of the National Oil and Gas Safety Advisory Committee. He also chairs two of the taskforces, Clean Fossil Energy and Aluminium, under the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate (AP6). He serves on two industry and government leadership groups delivering reports to the Australian Government, strategies for the oil and gas industry and framework for the uranium industry. More recently he led a team charged with responsibility for taking forward the Australian Government’s proposal to establish a global carbon capture and storage institute. He is involved in the implementation of a range of resource related initiatives under the Government’s Industry Action Agenda process, including mining and technology services, minerals exploration and light metals. Previously he served as Deputy Chairman of the Snowy Mountains Council and the Commonwealth representative to the Natural Gas Pipelines Advisory Committee. He has occupied a wide range of positions in the Australian Government dealing with trade, commodity, and energy and resource issues. He has worked in Treasury, the Department of Trade, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Primary Industries and Energy before the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. From 1992–96 he was a Minister Counsellor in the Australian Embassy, Washington, with responsibility for agriculture and resource issues and also served in the Australian High Commission, London (1981–84) as the Counsellor/senior trade relations officer. He holds a MComm in economics, and Honours in economics from the University of New South Wales, Australia. Prior to joining the Australian Government, worked as a bank economist. He was awarded a public service medal in 2005 for his work on resources issues for the Australian Government.

China join in WTO means that China petroleum industry will be integrated into economic globalization also means that China petroleum industry will have a direct impact by market competition. As being Chinese’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, China National Offshore Oil Corporation must take active measures to deal with the opportunities and challenges brought by joining the World Trade Organization.

An increasing importance is given to the Economic Feasibility Study of Petroleum Projects. The reason behind that is the critical role played by the Petroleum Industry in Society, Economy and Foreign Trade. In general, Petroleum Industry is involved with the Exploitation of Oil and Gas Resources to satisfy the country's needs (households and industrial sectors) and to export these resources, in order to, gain foreign currencies which are necessary for funding the country's social and economic requirements. Petroleum Projects have diversity features in terms of location, size, capital, technology and risks. On the Other hand, because of the importance of the Petroleum Industry, high significance should be given to the Economic Feasibility Study, especially the necessary of good knowledge of the nature of Petroleum Activities, Projects and Contracts, as well as the fundamentals of Advanced Feasibility Study.

In 2020, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade saw a modest increase of 1%, which is in contrast to the strong growth of previous years. Recently, the global LNG trade has picked up following the easing of impacts from the pandemic and demand growth in Asia. An increase of 6% in the global LNG trade is expected in 2021 and 2022. Domestic demand for gas remains high, with gas being used both for residential supply and also as an essential feedstock for the manufacturing industry. With a projected domestic gas shortfall, the future exploration and development of oil and gas will play a key role in ensuring access to secure, reliable and affordable energy in the future as well as assisting economic recovery from the pandemic. The importance of remaining an attractive investment destination is essential. Our challenge is to not only strike the balance of being agile and adaptive to market disruptions but also provide robust policy and regulatory frameworks to underpin future investment in the sector. Against this backdrop, this paper provides details of the 2021 offshore petroleum exploration acreage release and information about the ongoing policy work of the department.

AbstractThe petroleum industry plays an essential role in driving China’s economic development. In the past few decades, several reforms in the petroleum industry have been implemented; however, there are still some issues that have not been resolved. Moreover, with the new-normal economy, the transition to green energy and international trade disputes, the petroleum market is also facing emerging challenges. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to review the historical development of China’s petroleum market, identify the current challenges and propose corresponding countermeasures for future prospects. As a conclusion, five main challenges are highlighted totally, namely lack of marketization, excess oil refining capacity, high external dependency, environment pollution and unstable international trading relationship. To address these challenges, it is encouraged to deepen petroleum market reform, accelerate the elimination of inefficient refining capacity, diversify oil supply sources, as well as improve domestic petroleum enterprises’ ability to resist price risks.

Purpose – Public sector organisations in the developing world contexts have hugely invested in procuring information management systems such as the electronic document and records management system (EDRMS). The procurement and implementation of these systems come at a huge cost to taxpayers. Unfortunately, most of these systems remain white elephants due to reluctance by the anticipated users to adopt and use them in their information management endeavours. This study aims to understand Action Officers’ perceptions of, adoption and/or usage of the document workflow management system (DWMS) at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Botswana. The DWMS is one type of EDRMS. Design/methodology/approach – The survey uses a questionnaire distributed in Gaborone, Botswana to gather data on the perceptions of anticipated users of the DWMS. The study used a modified form of UTAUT as a theoretical lens to explore user’s perception on the adoption and use of DWMS at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Botswana. The population of the study was 68. A total of 53 (86.89 per cent) out of 61 users of DWMS were purposively sampled and responded to the questionnaire. The rest took part in interviews. Findings – Negative attitudes to computers, computer anxiety, the complexity of DWMS and its incompatibility to current working practices influences Action and Records Officers’ unwillingness to adopt and use the DWMS. Research limitations/implications – This study was limited to the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI)’s Department of Corporate Services, so its findings cannot be statistically generalized to the MTI as a whole. Another limitation relates to the secretive nature of staff in some government departments which lead them to provide partial information related to the study. Finally, the additional technology adoption factors discovered from interviews (i.e. computer anxiety, incompatibility of DWMS to current work practices, negative attitudes to system use and complexity of the system) have not been empirically tested to ascertain their validity. This provides an opportunity for a future study to empirically test the said additional factors. Practical implications – To mitigate the lower DWMS adoption and usage, robust change management and communication were identified as some of the critical factors that should be considered. The identified factors may be used in drafting a model to aid the implementation of DWMS in Botswana or in a contextually similar environment in the developing world. Originality/value – This study provides empirical evidence from an original study.

Research—defined broadly as any activity in the concept to delivery continuum—is critical to the success of the present thrust for development of a competitive Australia. It provides the key to maintenance of existing competitive advantages, and the development of new competitive advantages both within Australia and in export markets. Nowhere is this more important than in the Australian petroleum industry (oil and gas). This industry contributes in the order of $10 billion annually to Australia's balance of trade. Yet until recently little research has been undertaken by Australian petroleum companies to support their exploration and production activities here.There is now recognition by Australian petroleum companies that research must be undertaken by them to support access to prospective areas, enhance exploration success, maximise production and minimise environmental damage. The contribution which research can make to the growth of the industry will only accrue if that research is targeted on priorities which meet the short, medium, and long-term needs of the industry. To define these priorities APEA, working in conjunction with ERDC, has produced a research and development strategy for the Australian upstream petroleum industry.The priorities resulting from this process cover the areas of exploration, production efficiencies, reservoir management, environmental effects and safety. Implementation of the strategy is occurring via ajoint Petroleum R&D Committee. ERDC's role in this process is to manage its investment in the projects resulting from the strategy to maximise the chances of successful implementation of the outcomes for the benefit of the industry and Australia.

The purpose of this study was to investigate competitiveness of Travel and Tourism industry of Sub-Saharan African countries in the world market. The study used Normalized Revealed Comparative Advantage (NRCA) and Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) indexes as a measure of competitiveness based on secondary data from ITC trade database covering between 2000 and 2019. The findings of the study revealed that SSA countries like Mauritius, South Africa, Seychelles and Namibia have competitive T&T industry consistently in the years between 2000 and 2019. However, SSA countries such as Botswana, Tanzania, Senegal, Kenya and Rwanda have competitiveness vary by years. Moreover, South Africa has highest comparative advantage followed by Tanzania and Mauritius. The study provided valuable information to industry leaders, policy makers, business owners and international organizations such as UN and UNESCO to design appropriate strategies and systems aiming to sustain and improve travel and tourism industry competitiveness in SSA countries. It is the first study in applying NRCA and RTA indexes to investigate the competitiveness of T&T Industry in SSA countries. Keywords: Competitiveness; export; import; performance; tourism; travel

The dual pressures of the global economic crisis in 2008 and high crude prices through the subsequent recovery period have prompted oil-producing countries to adopt a wide range of protectionist measures including subsidies in all forms and trade and investment restrictions. Focusing on fiscal and industrial policy adjustments in the UK and the People's Republic of China since 2008, this paper argues that both governments have sought an increase in tax contributions from the corporate sector in exchange for intensified, targeted support for specific capital investments that will address the challenges of overall decline in domestic oil production and new field exploration and oil recovery opportunities. These novel “rent-sharing” schemes – inadequately captured in recent academic debates over precise measurements of fuel subsidies – raise concerns for fair competition in the upstream market and politicians’ long-term commitment to the transitioning of energy mix toward green and renewable sources.

The paper estimates the effects of trade reforms on workers' earnings in Pakistan's manufacturing sector during 1995-2015, employing data from 14 rounds of the Pakistan Labour Force Survey. OLS technique has been used for estimation and separate analysis for workers engaged in informal manufacturing activities is also undertaken. The results indicate that a tariff fall on intermediate products is associated with a rise in real earnings of workers employed in the manufacturing sector during this period, while a corresponding decline in tariffs on final goods has no effect on worker's wages. The results show that real wages of workers employed in the mainly export oriented industries of food, beverages and tobacco, textiles, apparel and leather and non-metallic mineral industries have declined over the twenty years period of trade reforms implemented in Pakistan. On the other hand, real wages are observed to have increased in the chemical and petroleum and basic metals industries.

ABSTRACT Several federal agencies regulate selected aspects of the production, refining, transportation, and storage of petroleum and petroleum products. Based on analyses of such programs, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may propose modifications to the Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures (SPCC) program. These proposed changes would be likely to result in improved consistency with other government and industry standards. Regulatory changes may occur in two extensive and significant areas: adoption of specific and widely recognized industry and regulatory tank standards, and mandatory contingency planning at all facilities covered by the SPCC regulations. Relevant industrial, trade association, and technical standards generated by the American Petroleum Institute, the Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., the National Fire Protection Association, the American National Standards Institute, and the National Association of Corrosion Engineers have been reviewed for applicability to the SPCC regulations. Areas of concern include materials specifications, welding requirements, pressure testing prior to service, overpressure and vacuum relief requirements, design specifications, hydrostatic testing requirements, and siting specifications.

Abstract In North America, one factor shaping petromodernity is the idea that oil offers a solution to the very problems it causes. This article examines that paradox, focusing on the 1950s. It analyzes a set of pamphlets from the Petroleum Industry School Program that were distributed by the American Petroleum Institute (API), the trade organization that promotes the US oil industry. It first describes the evolution of support for and opposition to the oil industry as well as that of the ideas of freedom that the industry sought to mobilize to gain public support. Next it describes the content of the pamphlets, which employed a series of binary pairs, such as success/failure and risk/reward. API used these pairs to craft stories that acknowledged problems inherent in the oil industry, invoked their inverse, and showed how oil solved them. This article concludes by describing the real-world consequences of API’s efforts as they were manifest in processes of policy formation in North Dakota during its 1951–54 oil boom. Through its efforts to frame discussions about oil, API made it possible for political leaders to make decisions about technical issues from which the oil industry stood to benefit.

Most European Union and Black Sea Economic Cooperation countries are net importers of petroleum and natural gas. Searching for new deposits and construction of new pipelines can improve energy security in the region. The problem is topical for Greece which has a developed refinery industry and needs to improve its trade balance to repay the accumulated external and public debt. Several new pipeline initiatives through Greece can support relations between the EU and BSEC countries. The paper provides previous research review about energy dependency and the effects of trade, production and transportation of hydrocarbons. Next we provide analysis of the effect of the trade on balance of payments in both the EU and BSeC countries. Import dependency of GDP on oil and natural gas is especially large in Malta, Georgia, Ukraine, Serbia and Latvia. On the other hand Russia and Azerbaijan are large net exporters of hydrocarbons. Then we analyse the impact of mining on labour market and refinery industry development. On average larger value added in mining leads to larger employment at least for males and middle age group of people. But the effect largely varies across countries and time periods. Together with construction of new pipelines growth of extraction can result in dozens of thousands of new jobs in Greece. There is a close link between value added in mining and compensation of employees in that industry. We have found evidence that the clustering effect between mining and manufacture of refined petroleum products and coke exists only in some EU countries.

According to IBISWorld (2013), 7.7% of Australia’s A$11 trillion assets are natural resources and 5.4% is intellectual property. Despite this intellectual property is overlooked as a valuable asset in the oil and gas industry. As the means of extraction become more complex, the methods and tools needed for the purpose can give one company an edge over another. Intellectual property rights help to protect that competitive advantage. Companies need to have a strategy for the early identification, management and protection of this asset. Customers, contractors and joint venture partners can create intellectual property ownership issues that must also be identified and properly managed. This extended abstract provides: a framework for establishing a robust intellectual property management strategy for companies in the exploration and production sector; identification of key intellectual property assets of businesses in the sector; a review of industry specific challenges, such as the requirement under WA’s Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Resources (Environment) Regulations 2012 to disclose trade secrets and commercially sensitive material about downhole substances; and, consideration of model agreements used in the sector, such as the AMPLA Model Petroleum Exploration Joint Operating Agreement.

The road sector in Botswana continues to develop its road network throughout the country at a tremendous rate. When Botswana gained independence in 1966, it had only 10 km (16 mi) of bitumen road. By 1992 the total length of bituminous surfaced road reached 3500 km (2,175 mi) out of a total road network of 18 000 km (11,285 mi). These statistics clearly show that the majority of roads are not yet surfaced; these are low-volume roads that provide access to the rural areas where most of the country’s population is found, though in low density. In spite of the rapid improvement in the quality of the national road network in recent years, much remains to be done. In the early 1970s and early 1980s the rural roads unit was introduced in the Ministry of Works Transport and Communications, which was charged with the responsibility of design and construction of low-volume roads around the country in a bid to integrate the country’s road network. This unit was later disbanded in the 1990s, and all roads are improved through the conventional procurement system using private contractors. For these roads the justification of a surfacing project based on conventional economic return methods does not apply, and worse still, the road improvements have to compete with other amenities for the same limited resources. Three ministries in Botswana are responsible for roads: Ministry of Works Transport and Communications, Ministry of Local Government, and Ministry of Trade, Industry, Wildlife and Tourism. These ministries have different responsibilities for different roads within the country, and earth, sand, and gravel roads are found under the jurisdiction of each of the ministries. The major drawbacks concerning low-volume roads in Botswana are inadequate maintenance, poor road construction materials, and the environmental impacts of the roads. Since the budget and resources are inadequate to keep these roads in good condition, it would be prudent to find technological means that would improve the locally available road construction materials so as to minimize their effects on the environment and vehicle operating costs.

ABSTRACT In South Australia, the newest Australian liquid hydrocarbon marine export terminal has been completed in record time. The terminal services domestic and export trade in crude oil, condensate and liquified petroleum gases while operating within a gulf which supports a major shellfish and scalefish industry, and a small but growing recreation market. The Terminal Operator has undertaken an integrated, rational, and cost-effective environmental protection strategy based on planning studies designed to ensure government and community approval for the facility. The study subject areas include: oil slick trajectory forecasting, ballast water diffuser outfall performance, prawn taint testing, coastal habitat sensitivity rating and mapping, oil spill response equipment selection and deployment strategies, equipment field trials, and industry-government consultative groups.

Subject. The article analyzes assets of the largest public companies operating in the oil and gas industry from 2006 to 2018, like ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Anadarko Petroleum, PAO Gazprom, PAO NK Rosneft, PAO LUKOIL, and others. Objectives. The aim is to make a comprehensive statistical analysis of changes in absolute values and the structure of assets in the public sector of the oil and gas industry. Methods. The study employs methods of statistical analysis and generalization of materials of official annual reports based on the results of financial and economic activities of the largest public oil and gas corporations. Results. Using the comprehensive analysis of balance sheets of 25 oil and gas companies, I determine changes in the size and structure of assets in the public sector of the industry, and establish the main factors that contributed to this transformation. Conclusions. The findings revealed an increase in the book value of assets in the majority of leading public oil and gas companies. Large mergers and acquisitions and agreements for new field developments also contributed to the increase. The study established that the protracted industry crisis resulted in reducing the proportion of current assets in order to release funds for revenue increase. That was why oil and gas companies sought to accelerate the collection of receivables, primarily by means of trade component. It was also determined that they channeled a part of funds thus collected to short-term financial investments.

The Department of Manufacturing, Innovation, Trade, Resources and Energy (DMITRE) SA has been successfully using competitive acreage releases to manage highly prospective Cooper Basin acreage since 1998. The expiry of long-term exploration licenses enabled the most significant structured release of onshore Australian acreage in the industry’s history—it has generated: 32 petroleum exploration licences (PELs) from ~70,000 km2 acreage; $432 million in guaranteed work program bids; 70 new field discoveries; $107.6 million royalties and $1.4 billion sales;and, increased gas supply-side competition. Cooper acreage turnover has also changed the makeup of Australia’s onshore exploration industry from numerous company-making discoveries. Since 1998, 10 acreage releases have been staged, enabled by the Petroleum Act 2000 (now the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000), conjunctive agreements with Native Title claimants, access to multiple-use Innamincka and Strzelecki Regional Reserves, and transparent application and bid assessment processes. Despite delays, most recently due to flooding, all but three of the original PELs are in their second term and relinquished acreage has been incorporated into subsequent releases. All work-program variations have been kept above the second bid score (except one, where the second ranked bidder was consulted and approved the change) preserving bidding system integrity. DMITRE is planning new Cooper Basin acreage releases while contemplating acreage management options for emerging unconventional plays. Industry input to map the best possible future for the SA Cooper Basin continues to be welcomed.

ABSTRACT The Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) has been implementing a major oil spill response program since 1991, supported and subsidized by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), from the viewpoint of contributing to a secure, stable oil supply for Japan. PAJ's program consists of the stockpiling and lending of oil spill response equipment, and research and development related to oil spills and response techniques. In the event of major oil spill incidents, PAJ will lend the equipment stockpiled at the base, free of charge, to government agencies or parties concerned upon their request, in order to minimize damages. Those parties who borrow the equipment bear the expense of transportation, deployment, cleanup, and repair. PAJ's purpose is to support initial response operations by supplying additional equipment. To stockpile and to release it, PAJ so far has four domestic and three overseas bases, with domestic bases in Chiba, Mizushima, Yokkaichi, and Niigata, and overseas bases in Julong East, Singapore; Port-Klang, Malaysia; and Al-Khafji, Saudi Arabia. The equipment installed includes oil skimmers (36 units), foamed flotation booms (16,000 m), inflatable booms (7,000 m) and portable tanks (56 units).

Coal was one of the catalysts of the Industrial Revolution which started in England and spread to other parts of Europe. It provided the main source of primary energy for industry and transportation. The spread of coal mining to Africa was as a result of European conquest and subsequent colonization. The conquest of Ngwo in 1908 led to the discovery and eventual mining of coal in Enugu-Ngwo from 1915. In the period exploitation lasted, coal from the town furnished the energy needed for transportation, industrialization and urban development in Nigeria. It also provided direct and indirect employment to people across Europe and Africa and as well facilitated international trade between Nigeria and her partners across the world. Since petroleum was discovered in Nigeria in 1956 and as was found a better alternative to coal in terms of energy and wealth generation, the coal industry suffered neglect and gradually collapsed. How the collapse of the coal industry as a result of the rise of petroleum affected Ngwo people is the central theme of this paper. It contends that, though petroleum is regarded as a source of wealth to Nigeria, it is, nonetheless a source of poverty to Ngwo people. The British colonialists dispossessed them of massive farmlands upon which they operated their local economy to set up the colliery and other facilities. Also, more than 8,000 of the people who contributed their youthful years mostly as miners lost their jobs without compensation. The development prospects especially under corporate–social responsibilities and employment generation which the people ought to benefit from with the continued existence of the coal exploitation were lost with the demise of the industry. Primary sources constitute greater percentage of the sources deployed for this historical reconstruction. They include oral tradition granted by reliable informants and source materials acquired from the National Archives Enugu. They are be augmented by secondary sources which include books, journal articles and other un-published materials. Available facts will be analyzed using qualitative research methodology.

Reward and work motivation are very important for an organization, as this can be used to direct the staffs towards achieving the goals of the organization. Moreover, rewarding and motivating efficient employees will boost the employee's productivity. This situation has no exception to a trade agency that has an objective to promote an ethical domestic trade while protecting the interests of the consumers. Moreover, its responsibilities include monitoring domestic trade, advocating and protecting consumers' rights, protection of intellectual properties as well as registration and governance of businesses. In exercising the responsibilities, the trade agency makes and reviews related laws and policies, monitors the prices of essential items and carries out enforcement activities to maintain a healthy domestic trade environment. Furthermore, the trade agency is also responsible for coordinating the policies, licensing, regulations, and activities related to the safety of petroleum, petrochemical and gas industry. The purpose of this research is to investigate the reward, namely salary, promotion, and recognition toward work motivation factors among employees in the trade agency situated in the southern state. Self-Administered questionnaires were used to collect information from the respondents in understanding their reward on salary, promotion, and recognition; and relating them to their work motivation. The result concludes that there is a positive and significant relationship between rewards and motivation. In a nutshell, it can be concluded that as the reward increase, the motivation of employees will also be increased.

Increasingly, public sector organizations are implementing records management systems with a view of improving service delivery. However, adoption and use of these systems has been found to be wanting. This study investigated the factors that influence the adoption and usage of a Document Workflow Management System at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Botswana using a modified Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as a theoretical lens. The study adopted a survey research design hinged on a positivist approach. A questionnaire, with both open and closed-ended questions, was administered to all 61 Action Officers (with response rate of 87%) who were the key users of the system. The findings of the study indicate that the four major UTAUT constructs accounted for 55% of the variance in explaining behavioural intention to adopt and use the Document Workflow Management System. The study found technophobia, negative attitudes to system use, perceived system complexity and incompatibility with existing information systems as key factors contributing to low adoption and usage of the system. The study proposes a conceptual adoption framework that may be used to guide research and practice in similar contexts.

ABSTRACT A response management system for accidents, such as oil well blowouts and oil spills at sea, is being developed by the Safety and Environment Center for Petroleum Development (SEC) under the supervision of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) of Japan. The 5-year program, which is designed to minimize environmental damage in the event of an oil spill, commenced in 1992. The system, known as the Marine Environmental Geographic Information System (MEGIS), consists of five subsystems: (1) detection and monitoring, (2) oil and pollution spill trajectory prediction by computer simulation, (3) contingency planning for response and cleanup operations, (4) a communication and information network of all responsible agencies and participants, and (5) a geographic information system.

In this well-written, documented, and technically complete book, Hugh Gorman describes the response of the American petroleum industry to pollution over the course of the twentieth century. The industry, which grew and matured during this period as an integral part of modern industrialization, faced serious, and often dramatic pollution problems. They were inherent in production from common oil pools that encouraged haste, waste, and excessive surface storage; in transportation through pipelines and tanker trucks and ships; and in refining and storing complex hydrocarbons that easily escaped into the air, soil, or aquifers. Reaction to pollution brought new technologies, organizational forms, firm collaboration, and regulation—all of which are described and documented from primary and secondary sources throughout this volume. Gorman partitions efforts to address pollution into two “ethics”—an efficiency ethic that characterized industry action through the 1960s and an environmental ethic that came into being in the 1970s. The efficiency ethic describes antipollution efforts to reduce the costly wastes associated with extraction and shipment, including saving lost oil from “gusher” wells and leaky tanks and pipelines, as well as capturing natural gas and water voided in production that could be re-injected and used to propel oil to the surface. Efficiency also required greater productivity and less waste in refining through reducing vapor and hydrocarbon discharges and recycling acids and other chemicals. The firms could capture the benefits of internalizing the externalities associated with these pollutants. In tables 2.1 and 4.3 Gorman lists some of the pollution and waste-related problems encountered in oil production, shipment, and refining that were addressed effectively by firms without much government intervention. He describes the role of the major trade association, the American Petroleum Institute, in generating information for oil firms to reduce externalities.

The first Ukrainian standard ДСТУ 4044 “Viscous petroleum road bitumens. Technical conditions” was implemented in 2002. According to its content and list of indicators, it met the level of the oil refining industry of Ukraine and the state of the road industry. In addition to conventional indicators, it included additional indicators of adhesion and mass content of paraffins. The indicator for paraffin remained unregulated, because there was neither acceptable method nor necessary equipment, and in generally an intention of manufacturers and users to apply it. The standard referred to in the article differs from the previous one by the principle of assigning indicators and their list. This is largely due to Ukraine’s accession to the European Free Trade Association and the deepening of scientific knowledge on predicting the behavior of bitumen under different conditions and their impact on the properties of asphalt concrete. Accordingly, the limits of normalization of bitumen grades on the depth of needle penetration were changed, which led to an increase in amount of grades from 4 to 5. Using the dependence of the penetration index on the softening point temperature, its new normative values are ordered. The Fraas breaking temperature provided by the standard is slightly lower than that normalized EN 12591 which is due the climatic conditions of Ukraine. The rate of adhesion of bitumen to the surface is normalized, which quantitatively characterizes the adhesion of bitumen to the mineral substrate, the least favorable for interaction. It is proposed to determine the indicators of technological aging by the RTFOT method. The standard contains additional indicators to be determined according to the harmonized European standards ДСТУ EN 12607-1 and ДСТУ EN 13302 (methods for determining the dynamic viscosity). Additional standards include equal viscous heating temperatures of bitumen in the production of asphalt mixtures and their compaction. The first is the temperature, which corresponds to a bitumen viscosity of 0.5 Pas, the second is 10 Pas. Elongation at a temperature of 0 ºC is included in the standard as a certain analogue of the breaking temperature. Based on the fact that at this time the next European standard is in the final stage before approval, the values of additional indicators can be included into this standard after adjusting their values with European ones based on the characteristics of bitumen used in Ukraine. Keywords: bitumen, depth of needle penetration, softening point temperature, adhesion, ductility, cohesion, heating.

The year 2020 commenced with the global spread of Coronavirus and COVID-19 disease from China to other parts of the world. It was declared a pandemic on May 11, 2020 with recorded cases in all continents except Antarctica. Nigeria recorded its first case of the virus on February 27, 2020 and it has been on a download slope from then on, with over 8,000 cases as at May 27, 2020. Without a doubt, the pandemic has had a number of effects on Nigerian. The national economy, financial and employment status of most citizens hang in uncertainty, health conditions have become a daily concern; amongst other issues plaguing the country in the face of the pandemic. The disruptions and uncertainties that occurred as a result of the pandemic was a hit to economies of the world. The challenges posed by the virus have expectedly thrown the global economy into a recession, the magnitude and duration of which the world is trying to decipher. The economic effects of the global crisis have been felt in different aspects of the economy, including reduced trade, financial flows, tourism and declining prices of oil, gas and other commodities. This paper will review the state of Nigeria's economy and the petroleum industry before Covid-19, the immediate and long-term impact of coronavirus pandemic on the economy and the petroleum industry, the legislative and executive actions consequent upon the pandemic. The paper will also determine whether the pandemic is a wakeup call to diversify the nation's energy mix and begin an energy transition to a new energy order to improve the economy and achieve decarbonisation in Nigeria.

A world without plastics or synthetic polymers can't be imagined today. The first synthetic plastics was produced in the beginning of the twentieth century, however industrial plastics production started in 1950. Production of plastic materials to day surpasses any other synthetic material with the exception of steel and cement. The share of plastics in municipal solid waste increased from 1% in the 1960 to more than 10% in 2005. Most monomers used today to make plastics such polyethylene (PE) or Polypropylene (PP), or polystyrene (PS) are produced from the petroleum industry and none is biodegradable, they accumulate in the environment and pose great threat and serious concern to humanity and to marine life. In 2010 approximately 8 Million Metric Ton (MT) of plastic waste entered the marine environment. Global production of polymers and fiber increased from 2 (MT) in 1960 to 380(MT) in 2015 a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% while the total production of polymers and fibers from 1960 – 2015 was estimated to be around 7800 (MT). China alone produces 28%, and 68% of world production of PP. Biodegradable plastics amount to only 4 (MT). Non fiber plastics production is (PE 36%, PP 21%), Polyvinylchloride PVC (12%) followed by polyethylene terphthalate PET, polyurethane, and polystyrene less than 10% each ,42% of plastics are used in packaging. Palestine show a fast-growing plastic industry though we import plastics worth 255 million US $ as reported in the United Nations International Trade Statistics (COMTRADE) in 2018, compared to US $200 Million imported in 2014. However, we were able to export to the world 66.3 million US $ worth of plastic materials added to that our export to Israel of plastic product worth 86 million US $, mostly packaging materials. Three important countries that export plastic materials to Palestine are Turkey. China and south Korea. Turkey alone in 2018 exported plastics worth 25 million $. The plastic industry in Palestine is among the largest industry. However, we still manufacture the traditional plastics for packaging. Our country needs to develop this industry and diversify the plastic products to meet the needs of the market such as automobile, electrical appliances, refrigerators, and many other industries.

In the recent years, due to the introduction of new Technical Regulations in the Oil and Gas Industry in 2008, high technical and environmental performance values were set to be met by production volume and by the quality of hydrocarbons and a variety of oil products coming from the fields to factory processing and trade parks. The presence of a powerful raw material base, the shortage of petroleum products and the development of market relations create objective conditions for increased use of a variety of natural hydrocarbons, for improved technological schemes of oil preparation and oil processing on the oil fields and for modernizing the equipment used. On small and remote oil fields, which for economic reasons cannot be linked by transport pipelines, a complex system of preparation of liquid hydrocarbons is used with the ultimate goal of obtaining some refined products such as gasoline, diesel fuel and furnace oil.

Palm oil is one of important Indonesia's export commodities. In 2017, the export value of palm oil and its derivatives (excluding oleochemicals and biodiesel) penetrated US $ 22.97 billion. The bright prospect of the palm oil commodity in the world vegetable oil trade encouraged the Indonesian government to develop an integrated palm oil industry. On the other hand, some downstream petrochemical products have begun to experience difficulties in raw materials, including Polyurethane. Polyurethane is a polymeric material from polyols and isocyanates which are widely used as packaging. Polyol itself is a polyether produced from the petroleum fraction. The polyol industry can be developed in the industrial tree branch of glycerol / glycerin in the large palm oil industry tree. Glycerin is generally the most end product of the palm oil fractionation industry, after cooking oil, margarine, shortening, and soap. In addition, glycerin is also a by-product of fatty acid esterification during biodiesel production. The value chain analysis carried out in the palm oil industry chain shows that polyol production has added new pathways that can extend the palm oil downstream industry chain. Analysis carried out on the main chain and the combined oil palm industry chain has been successfully used to map the polyol industry value chain on the palm oil track. The extension of the palm oil industry value chain on the polyol industry pathway can unite the industry with the chain of production of the petrochemical industry, in this case polyurethane, which at least can help substitute raw materials. A more detailed analysis of the perceptions of the role of the polyol industry in two directions, namely the palm oil industry chain with the polyurethane industry shows that there is a very large intersection of interests. Almost all perceptions of the role of key value chain activities in the polyurethane industry can be covered by the role of the value chain main activities in the palm oil polyol industry. Both value chains can be said to complement and complement each other. The production of polyester polyols can be absorbed by the needs of the polyurethane industry.

More than in many other countries, the oil market in West Germany is traditionally characterised by liberal trade patterns. This open market allowed a virtually free inflow of oil products. Hence, the pressure on prices at Rotterdam's spot market affected directly the product prices for German consumers. In all end-product markets, oligopoly and strong competition by outsiders prevail. If the cutthroat competition is intensified, this may lead to an alteration of the supply structure within the group of the quite heterogeneous market participants. The West German oil industry is passing through a period of painful economic adjustments. The shrinking of the market, changing demand patterns, and financial losses have led to the shedding of considerable over-capacity in refining and distribution. The process includes both a drastic reduction of simple (straight-run) distillation capacity and an increase in conversion potential, along with toll refining, reduction of marketing outlets, concentration of participants in processing and distribution, attempts at optimisation of downstream activities within the Common Market area, as well as the promotion of joint ventures with foreign state companies. The approach to the adaptation process varies from company to company according to upstream and downstream strength, financial position, access to sources of supply, international linkages, and special areas of interest. Of course, over-capacity of refining is a global phenomenon that cannot be eliminated without international co-operation. The problems may, after all, become even more complex after new export refineries in OPEC countries have been completed. This paper presents the results and features that reflect the reaction of the main companies affected. It describes the chances and challenges of a free oil market system. In recent years the petroleum industry in Germany has suffered heavy financial losses, and has embarked on a radical and seemingly successful adaptation process, but it remains vulnerable to developments on the world oil market. It would gain from better co-ordinated policies within the framework of the European Community—including a free play of market forces and a standardisation of environmental controls. Farther afield, the necessity for closer links to the government-controlled companies in producing countries is perceived to secure sources of supply on a basis of mutual advantage.

A seven-year program, designated “Research and Development of Automotive CGT,” commenced in June 1990 with the object of demonstrating the potential advantages of ceramic gas turbine engines for automotive use. This program has been conducted by the Petroleum Energy Center (PEC) with the support of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The engine demonstration project in this program is being handled by a team from Japan Automobile Research Institute, Inc. (JARI). This paper describes the activities of the first year of the seven-year program, and includes the project goals and objectives, the program schedule, and the first-stage design of an experimental automotive ceramic gas turbine (CGT) engine and its components. The basic engine is a 100 kW, single-shaft gas turbine engine having a turbine inlet temperature of 1350°C and a rotor speed of 110,000 rpm. The primary engine components including the turbine hot flow path components have been designed using monolithic ceramics and are scheduled to be produced during the second year of the program.

Climate change is undoubtedly one of the greatest economic, social, and environmental challenges now facing the world. The present Australian Government is committed to acting on climate change and Australia’s progress towards its emissions reduction targets is being closely watched internationally. To contribute effectively to global climate change action, Australia must demonstrate its ability to implement robust and sustainable domestic emissions management legislation. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), modelled after the cap-and-trade system, continues to be debated by our policymakers, as the Government moves to re-introduce its preferred CPRS legislative package for the third time. The advent of climate change legislation is inevitable and its impact will be far-reaching. This paper reviews the fiscal aspects of the proposed CPRS legislation in the context of the oil and gas industry, and whether it is conducive to creating incentives for appropriate climate change response by the industry. In particular, this paper will consider: the direct and indirect tax features specifically covered in the proposed CPRS legislation and their implications; the areas of taxation that remain uncanvassed in the proposed CPRS legislation and aspects requiring clarification from the tax administration; the interaction between Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) and the CPRS measures; the flow-on impacts to taxation outcomes resulting from proposed accounting and financial reporting responses to the CPRS legislation; the income tax and PRRT treatment of selected abatement measures; and, elements of a good CPRS tax strategy and compliance action plan.

ABSTRACT Washington State has initiated the development process for a dispersant pre-approval policy. In order to be more effective under the aegis of the Regional Response Team (RRT), the preapproval policy should, however, cover all of Region X, rather than only a given state within the region. The Region X RRT has, therefore, instigated an environmental impact statement (EIS) for dispersant use in the coastal waters of Washington and Oregon. The objective of this study is to develop recommendations for pre-approval so that a spill response can be immediate and therefore efficient and effective. Preparation of the EIS has been funded by industry through a Clean Sound Cooperative contract to Woodward-Clyde Consultants. The first step in the study is to define those operational factors that limit the areas to be considered. The study then follows the dispersant decision guides summarized by the American Petroleum Institute2 to further define oil types, spill situations and geographical areas where dispersants are a viable option. Finally, there is an analysis of the environmental trade-offs associated with alternative treatment methods and with nontreatment, using the comparative modeling technique developed by S. L. Ross Environmental Research, Ltd. The EIS document will be issued by the Washington Department of Ecology (WDOE) and will focus on areas where dispersant use could be beneficial in terms of ecological trade-offs. Based on the study, a statement from the State of Washington Department of Ecology is anticipated to be promulgated by the end of 1990.

AbstractThe Renee Field lies in Block 15/27 toward the eastern end of the Renee Ridge, a major intra-basinal high in the Outer Moray Firth separating the Witch Ground Graben and South Halibut Graben. The block was awarded to a Phillips Petroleum-led consortium in the fourth Round of UKCS Licensing in March 1972. The 15/27-1 discovery well was drilled in 1976, testing oil at rates of 8025 bopd from stacked Piper/Upper Scott sandstone reservoirs. The field was appraised in mid-1997 and an Annex B submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry in late 1997 for a joint Renee and Rubie Field development. Oil export was via a 21 km pipeline to the Ivanhoe/Rob Roy fields, north of Renee. The development comprised a three-well drilling programme, completed in August 1999. First production was achieved in February 1999 at rates of up to 20 000 bopd, the plateau period continuing until year end. Production continued to decline until the field was permanently shut-in during September 2006. Ultimate recovery was 8.9 MMbbl and recovery factor 49%, based on a final mapped stock tank oil-in-place of 18.2 MMbbl. Decommissioning of the Renee Field commenced in 2015 with the removal of the subsea infrastructure.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2015, took a step toward regulating carbon emissions from airlines, following an assessment that airlines contribute to climate change. On July 25, 2016, the final endangerment finding (Note 1) under section 231(a) (2) (A) of the Clean Air Act for aviation emissions was issued by the EPA. The European Union had issued a similar finding previously and had proposed implementing an emission trading scheme in which the airlines would be required to participate in a cap and trade scheme for emissions from jet fuel. Traditional jet fuel is derived from petroleum, whose price is volatile and depends on geopolitical stability. Fuel burn is a significant cost for airlines and affects their profitability and value. Fuel burn is also a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. An investigation of alternatives to jet fuel and switching from conventional jet fuel based on varying emission profiles, production costs and varying carbon prices is therefore timely. We use a simple decision support system to examine the link between the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a range of fuels, economic costs of production and varying carbon prices. This analysis should be of interest to regulators, traders, risk managers and executives in the airline industry as well as practitioners of sustainability management.

<p>Coffee is the second most common trade commodity in the world after petroleum. The coffee industry generates large amounts of waste in the form of coffee peels. Coffee peel waste consist of lignocellulose containing hemicellulose and other chemical compounds. The objective of this research was to extract xylan, the main component of hemicellulose from coffee waste, and to utilize the xylan in the production of xylooligosaccharide (XOS). Xylan was extracted from coffee waste using NaOH solution and neutralized by HCl 6 M. Afterward, xylan was precipitated using ethanol. Various NaOH concentrations (4, 8, 12 and 16 % w/v) were used to obtain the xylan. NaOH solution with a concentration of 12 % results 43 % extraction of xylan from coffee waste. Xylan obtained from the extraction was hydrolyzed using endo-β-1,4-xylanase from Bacillus sp. to produce XOS. The incubation time of enzyme-substrate was observed at 40 oC, pH 5 and enzyme dose of 23.6 U. Thin layer chromatography results showed that the hydrolyzed products of xylan are XOS with composition xylobiose (X2), xylotriose (X3), xylotetraose (X4) and xylopentaose (X5). LC-MS studies revealed that X2 is the dominant product with the concentration of 6.00 ppm. This research demonstrates the potential to utilizate coffee peel waste as a source of xylan for the production of XOS.</p>

Nepal being a landlocked country is completely dependent on the roadways and airways for means of transportation however, the railway has not been started in Nepal to date. Transportation is interlinked with mobility and due to lockdown every sector related to mobility has been affected. Consequently, the aviation sector has been worst hit as airlines were prohibited to operate. The aviation industry of Nepal has foreseen significant decadence in the mobility of passengers and cargo (international and domestic) which has affected revenue generation. Similarly, the imposed lockdown has influenced the ongoing nation's pride and the long-term investment projects which have been considered as a milestone in the infrastructural development of Nepal and those projects need to be reprogrammed and reprioritized. Moreover, the sharp decrease in import of petroleum products has decreased the revenue paid to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) which will help to reduce trade loss. The lockdown induced due to COVID-19 has also affected the agricultural sector as the supply chain has been disrupted due to travel restrictions. The overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that the transport and its inter-linked sector contribute has been reduced during lockdown than the preceding years. Identifying the paucity of research in the transportation sector of Nepal this paper is focused on the comprehensive study of the impact of the COVID-19 transportation sector along with its inter-connected areas.

Background: Oil spills caused by releasing liquid petroleum can spread on the coastal strip and affect coastal ecosystems, causing severe damage to the coastline environment and crisis in local communities. This study aimed to identify and map the environmentally sensitive areas of the coastal strip of Guilan Province, Iran, to oil spills using the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI). Methods: The data required for the present study were collected through field studies, the GPS device, topographic maps of 1.25000 of the National Mapping Organization, maps of protected areas of the Environmental Protection Organization, satellite images, data of Guilan Province Industry, Mine and Trade Organization, and other relevant agencies. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) method and ESI were used to determine the sensitivity of the coastal strip of Guilan Province to oil spills. Moreover, to determine the weights of the criteria studied in the NOAA method, the analytic hierarchy process was used. Results: The final results of the study of the environmental sensitivity of the coastal strip of Guilan Province to oil spills showed that 21.15%, 39.66%, and 39.19% of the coastal strip have low, medium, and high sensitivity, respectively. Conclusion: High sensitivity mainly was related to the eastern part of the coast, located at the banks of estuaries of current rivers. Low sensitivity was also located along the seafront on fine- to medium-grained sand beaches, where less damaged in the event of oil spill pollution.

he sub-optimal performance of state-owned refineries in Nigeria has led to a significant gap in the supply of refined petroleum products (RPPs) in the country. More so, the growing demand for these products has further widened the gap to the range of 500,000 –600,000 barrels per day (bpd). Consequently, most of the imports for RPPs in Nigeria are being filled from the United States and North-Western Europe at the expense of the Nigerian economy. However, given the abundance of petroleum resources in Nigeria and its long history in the production of oil, it is unfortunate that the local refineries are hardly maintained to meet the needs of the local population. In addition, the inability of the Nigerian state to build additional refining capacity to cushion its domestic supply gap for RPPs has become a major concern. With more than 40 licenses issued to private companies since 2002, only two companies (Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Refinery and Dangote Oil Refinery) have made noticeable progress in new refinery construction.This paper is focused on investigating the current challenges of refinery construction in Nigeria. This is done with a view of comparing the drivers and enablers of productivity in construction in this sector during the period of 1965 –1989 and how they differ from the current period of 2000 -2019 in Nigeria.A systematic literature review within the academic journals, source documents from the industry, relevant interviews from published news media and consulting organisations were used to identify and categorise these challenges. The findings of this study were validated by interviews from experts across key industries in this sector.The study reveals that change of ownership structures from the government sector to the private sector between the two eras, present additional challenges. These challenges cut across availability of capital, inconsistent government priorities and access to land for construction. Others include cronyism and corruption, weak political will, unstructured refinery licensing scheme, security challenges and economic factors regarding the regulated downstream market inNigeria. Key recommendations proffered to help solve these problems include a private sector-led partnership with the government in the form of public private partnerships (PPPs), a review of existing methods for licensing refineries for private organisations, the development of local manpower with relevant technical skills to help lower the cost of expatriate labour and the establishment of more designated clusters as free trade zones within the oil-producing Niger Delta. These recommendations will help lower the entry barriers for private organisations in this sector

This paper aims to assess the economic reforms in India undertaken during the 1990s. India has gone through the first decade of her reform process. Hence, an assessment of what has been achieved so far and what remains on the reform agenda is in order. Reforms in the industrial, trade, and financial sectors, among others, have been wide and deep. As a consequence, they have contributed more meaningfully in attaining higher rates of growth. A decade of opening of the economy has produced new dynamism, most dramatically in the information technology sector, but in others as well. The new technologies (especially information technology and biotechnology) give new opportunities for economic and social development. It is necessary to move swiftly to complete many of the reforms, which are now underway. Examples of such continuing reforms are the reduction in protection levels, continuing reforms in banking sector, product de-reservation for the small-scale industry, decontrol of prices, such as petroleum, reform of the power sector and so on. Among other things, sustaining higher rates of economic growth would require a more vigorous pursuit of economic reforms at both the federal and state levels. Significant reduction of fiscal deficit is the first order of business. Unless substantial fiscal consolidation is achieved, in our view, continued fiscal deficits pose India's greatest risk to future destabilization. Other critical reforms include, labor laws, exit policy, privatisation of state-owned enterprises, further opening-up of the economy to trade and foreign direct investment. In addition, there is a vast amount of economic reform that can be carried out to improve conditions in rural India, especially in the Gangetic valley. The reforms implemented so far have helped India attain 6 plus percent growth, however, should India be able to implement the remaining reforms and re-orient governmental spending away from inessential expenditures towards high priority areas of health and education and infrastructure development, then it is very likely to attain and sustain even higher rates of economic growth.

Public perception and environmental awareness place increasing demands on the petroleum industry to facilitate fast and efficient oil spill containment and recovery to mitigate environmental damage. HSE legislation also places increasing demands on Oil Spill Response Organisations to ensure a safe working environment for responders. This paper looks at the trade-offs facing oil spill response planning from the perspective of occupational exposure to Total Volatile Hydrocarbons (TVH). TVH is a term used to represent a large group consisting of hundreds of chemical compounds that derive from crude oil. Under certain circumstances, in-situ response measures represent a significant risk to local air quality and human health. Mechanical and manual oil spill recovery in close proximity with TVHs place spill responders and potentially the general public at an increased risk from fire/ explosions as well as acute and chronic health implications. Over the course of a spill, physical and chemical processes are continuously changing TVH composition. This requires rapid on-scene monitoring and/ or predictive modelling to optimise spill counter measures and responder safety. The use of personal and area TVH monitoring equipment is discussed in a practical spill recovery context, and an overview is provided of portable gaseous testing equipment with respect to key criteria such as; conformity, configuration, user-friendliness and robustness. Current developments in TVH monitoring models are reviewed and their contribution to future oil spill contingency planning assessed. Consideration is given to hazardous vapour exposure and the resulting health and safety issues that were faced by OSRL during the Tasmin Spirit and an inland well-blow out in Georgia.

In the past thirty years, the United Arab Emirates non oil sector's contribution to GDP has been rising, the rise of a number of advantages of the industry, such as real estate, trade, tourism, construction, finance, shipping, processing industries. This led to the prosperity of the UAE economic market. UAE has a stable political environment and security community, and keep a good relationship with the major countries. Although the UAE is involved in some areas of conflict, but it has no impact on the overall situation. It has a wealth of oil and gas resources, is one of the most affluent countries in the region and the world, of which the government develop a comprehensive development strategy and efforts to develop non oil and gas industry.Although UAE has the most diversified economy in the GCC, the UAE's economy remains extremely reliant on petroleum(oil). With the exception of Dubai, most of the UAE is dependent on oil revenues. Petroleum and natural gascontinue to play a central role in the economy, especially in Abu Dhabi. More than 85% of the UAE's economy was based on the oil exports in 2009. While Abu Dhabi and other UAE emirates have remained relatively conservative in their approach to diversification, Dubai, which has far smaller oil reserves, was bolder in its diversification policy. In 2011, oil exports accounted for 77% of the UAE's state budget.The United Arab Emirates attaches great importance to infrastructure construction, and regard it as the basis of economic and social development. Since 70s, the UAE government has invested heavily in the construction of infrastructures, so as to create a favorable environment for foreign capital to enter Dubai. The United Arab Emirates as the most important financial and traffic center of the area, perfect legal system, has clean government and a good investment environment. Although affected by the 2009 Dubai debt crisis and the 2014 international oil prices and other unfavorable factors, but the overall economy is still maintained growth momentum. As an important hub in the Middle East, and the ancient maritime Silk Road of the important station, United Arab Emirates has "The Belt and Road" strategic prospects. In the context of oil prices, the United Arab Emirates non oil economic development is still strong, the development of infrastructure gets maintain stable growth, and investment risk is low.

<p>This empirical paper explores trends in innovation activities measured by a countries’ total patent application submission intensity relative to its population, and by analyzing U.S. granted patents data for cohorts of developed countries and developing countries. In addition to tabular and graphical analyses, I use a baseline regression model and a variant model thereof to assess the relative influence of a set of aggregate variables on innovation activities in eight manufacturing industries across two cohorts of countries (developed and developing) where each cohort contains eight individual countries. Eight industries included in this study are: Chemical, Petroleum, electrical and electronics equipment, machinery, pharmaceutical, plastic, computer, and textile. The cohort of developed countries includes Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, and the United States. The cohort of developing countries includes Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey. Per regression results, ethnic diversity is a statistically significant positive determinant of innovation for all industry aggregate patent count for both high income and developing countries. Also, per capita electricity usage, R&amp;D expenditure as percent of GDP, and percent of population with internet access are three positive factors of innovation irrespective of industrial subsectors and position of a country in the development echelon. Interestingly, impact of ICT-services export is statistically significant and innovation boosting in developing countries in the cohort relative to countries in the cohort of developed countries. It also appears that trade openness served as a stronger stimulant of innovation activities for developing countries’ but not as much for the cohort of developed or high-income countries. This paper attempts to extend the literature on cross-country comparison of innovation activities by using two measures of innovation activities across developed and developing countries, and by analyzing both aggregate and sector-level data for eight manufacturing industries both graphically and utilizing panel regression models. </p>

It might seem incongruous that a research focused organisation such as the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry would pay attention to an issue as pragmatic as oil spills. After all, an oil spill tends to be viewed as a very practical matter, its issues characterised by loss of a valuable commercial product, damage to the environment, high costs of clean up, high legal liabilities, and very much media attention. Oil spills are not generally considered a pure or even applied chemistry issue. However, this would be a very short-sighted interpretation. Effectively every element of an oil spill, whether environmental, physical, operational or legal, is related to the complex chemistry of the oil and its breakdown products released to the environment. Indeed, it would be safe to say that if petroleum were a simple chemical product, the difficulties inherent in clean up of an oil spill would be much reduced, no matter what the origin or cause of the spill.The chemical nature of oil is directly related to the fate and environmental impacts of spilled oil, whether on water or on land, and to the effectiveness of the diversity of countermeasures which might be deployed. While evaluation of the effects of spilled oil on the environment receives much attention in forums with a biological or toxicological focus, which often do take into consideration chemical factors, the complex topic of the chemistry of oil spills in direct relation to countermeasures is examined more rarely. The various chapter in this document discuss a diversity of oil spill countermeasures, and target the chemical and consequently physical behaviour of oil which determines its characteristics at the time of the spill. While oil spills occur in fresh and salt waters, and on land, marine oil spills remain the larger issue - there tends to be more oil spilled, environmental problems are more complex, and countermeasures are more difficult to implement. The following papers generally reflect and review the current state of knowledge in their topic area, and are representative of the most recent surge in research and development activities, stimulated particularly by the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. It appears that oil spill research undergoes cycles of interest, activity and funding, linked to key oil spills. Previously, the Torrey Canyon spill in the English Channel off Land's End, in the United Kingdom in 1967 provided general incentive for research and development, as did the Amoco Cadiz spill off the coast of Brittany, France in 1978. Other oil spills, such as the 1968 Santa Barbara Channel, California spill, or the Braer spill off the Shetlands in 1993, among others, have also stimulated specific areas of research and development on the basis of issues that arose in their particular spill scenario.The articles in this publication have been contributed by recognised international experts in the spill response field, and have received the benefit of peer review. The articles are representative of the major categories of oil spill response research, spanning a wide range of technologies, supportive knowledge and experience, to include reviews of:This collection of review articles concludes with an evaluation of oil spill response technologies for developing nations, appropriately so since that is where much of the oil development and production currently occurs in the world.One area which has seen much recent expansion is that of the essential linkage between detailed understanding of spilled oil physical/chemical properties and the effectiveness of response countermeasures. Crude oils and oil products are known to differ greatly in physical and chemical properties and these tend to change significantly over the time course of spilled oil recovery operations. Such changes have long been recognised to have a major influence on the effectiveness of response methods and equipment, which increases the time and cost of operations and risk of resource damage. All countermeasures are influenced, whether sorbents, booms, skimmers, dispersants, burning of oil and so forth. The incentive is for a rapid and accurate method of predicting changes in oil properties following spill notification, which could be used in both the planning and early phases of spill response, including an initial specific selection of an effective early countermeasure. In later stages of the response, more accurate planning for clean up method and equipment deployment would shorten response time and reduce costs. An additional benefit would be more effective planning for recall of equipment not needed, as well as potentially decreasing the risk of natural resource damage and costs due to more effective spilled oil recovery. The concept of "Windows of Opportunity" for oil spill response measures has been derived from multiple investigations in industry and government research organisations.Although dispersants have been used to date in almost one hundred large spills world-wide, government approval for dispersant use has long been inhibited by a lack of understanding of the factors determining the operational effectiveness of dispersants, and the environmental trade-offs which might need to be made to protect sensitive areas from spilled oil. Recent advances in chemical dispersant development, formulation of low toxicity dispersants with broader application, and better understanding of dispersant fate and effects have combined to a more ready acceptance of this countermeasure by many, although not yet all, regulatory authorities throughout the world. In addition to the category of dispersants, chemical countermeasures include many diverse agents, such as beach cleaners, demulsifiers, elasticity modifiers and bird cleaning agents, each with a unique and specialised role in clean up activities. However, the concerns for the use of these 'alternative chemicals' relate to the interpretation and application of toxico-ecological data to the decision process. If in the future the ecological issues concerning chemical treating agents can be further successfully resolved, the oil spill response community will have an increased range of options for response. However, extensive laboratory and field testing is required in many instances for new chemical dispersant materials and demulsifiers to improve the effectiveness of these materials on weathered oils and water in oil emulsions. The acceptance of in situ (i.e. 'on site') burning of spilled oil has been limited by valid operational concerns about the integrity of fireproof booms, the limited weather window for burning due to the rapid emulsification of oils, the need to develop methods for the ignition of emulsified and weathered oils, and public concerns about the toxicity of the smoke generated during burning. However, burning provides an option, another tool in the tool-box, for the responder called in to combat an oil spill. Burning decreases the amount of oil that must be collected mechanically, thus reducing cleanup costs, storage, transportation, and oily waste disposal requirements. It also would decrease potential contact with sensitive marine and coastal environments and consequently reduce the potential for associated damage costs. Laboratory and field studies over the last ten years have addressed essential information requirements for feasibility, techniques, and effectiveness, as well as health and safety. The results of research in situ burning has led to its acceptance in a number coastal jurisdictions throughout the world, prompting the response industry to purchase and position in situ burning equipment and train its operators to use this alternative technology in approved regions.Although not a direct recovery measure in itself, the application of remote sensing to oil spill response assists in slick identification, tracking, and prediction, which in many instances is an early requirement for effective response. An inadequate ability to see spilled oil seriously reduces effectiveness of oil spill response operations. Conversely, good capability to detect spilled oil, especially areas of thick oil, at night and other conditions of reduced visibility could more than double response effectiveness and greatly enhance control of the spill to minimise damage, especially to sensitive shorelines. Advances have been made in both airborne and satellite remote sensing. It has become possible to move from large and expensive to operate airborne systems to small aircraft, more widely available and practical for spill response operators. Also, the limitations in delayed data processing and information communication are being overcome by development of systems operating in functional real-time, which is essential for enhanced response capacity. Spill detection using satellites has also advanced markedly since 1989, with the ongoing intention to provide coverage of oil spill areas as early warning, or when flying by aircraft is not possible. An early useful application was an ERS-1 satellite program for detection of oil slicks, launched in 1992. More recently, spill detection capability has been developed for the Canadian Radarsat satellites, ERS-2 and a few other satellite programs.The topic of bioremediation of spilled oil, that is, to use microbes to assist in clean up, is a corollary to the deployment of traditional countermeasures. It had not seen much operational or regulatory support until the Exxon Valdez spill, where it was initiated as a spill mitigation method, establishing bioremediation as a major oil spill R&D area. Bioremediation of oil spills was defined as being one of three different approaches: enhancement of local existing microbial fauna by the addition of nutrients to stimulate their growth; 'seeding' the oil impacted environment with microbes occurring naturally in that environment; and, inoculating the oil impacted environment with microbes not normally found there, including genetically engineered bacterial populations. Research emphasis and regulatory countenance has been predominantly on the first approach. Evaluation of operational utility of is continuing to identify conditions under which bioremediation can be used in an environmentally sound and effective manner, and to make recommendations to responders for the implementation of this technology.The issue of hydrocarbon toxicity has been examined in petroleum refinery and petrochemical workers for more than a decade, and experimentally in test animals for a much longer period. However, there has been little specific information available on the effects of oil spills on human health, neither for oil spill response workers nor for incidentally exposed individuals. More recently, as reviewed in an article on human health effects in this publication, some reports have been published of skin irritation and dermatitis from exposure of skin to oil during cleanup, as well as nausea from inhalation of volatile fractions. Although there are to date no epidemiological studies of exposure by oil spill workers to petroleum hydrocarbons, the matter is drawing increasing attention.One of the more important issues surrounding the choice and extent of application of oil spill countermeasures is knowledge about the ecological effectiveness of such response, that is, the balance point between continuation of clean up activities and letting the environment take care of its own eventual recovery. It is the last point which has driven much of the discussions and research associated with the concept of 'how clean is clean', or, how much cleanup is enough or too much. The results of such diverse research efforts are being used increasingly and successfully to link spilled oil chemistry to countermeasures practices and equipment. The advances are being integrated into more effective response management models and response command systems. In summary, applied chemical research and development has actively contributed to an enhancement in oil spill response capability. Nonetheless, it seems that the pace of oil spill research and countermeasures development is slowing. The decrease is at least temporally associated with a decline in the frequency and magnitude of oil spills in recent years. Spill statistics gathered by organisations such as the publishers of the Oil Spill Intelligence Report, show that world-wide oil spill incidence and volume have continued to decline since the time of the Exxon Valdez spill event (see the Oil Spill Intelligence Report publication "International Oil Spill Statistics: 1997", Cutter Information Corp.). It is probably not coincidental that the amount of funding available for oil spill research and development, from both government and private industry sources, has declined similarly. In that context, the following articles are more a statement of currently accepted knowledge and practice, rather than being a 'snapshot in time' of intense ongoing research activities. The articles serve to capture the applied chemistry knowledge and experience of practitioners in a complex field, application of which remains essential for the development of improved oil spill countermeasures, and their effective use in real spill situations.