Originally published in 1980, this book presents a comparative analysis of British and Norwegian oil policies, focusing on the interdependence and bargaining relationship between governments and oil companies, as well as the policy choices, concerns and constraints for the two governments. The perspective is largely that of a government planner, whose main concerns are the long-term and complex interests of the state, orderly development as well as social and political stability.
The grave concern of governments for the negative impact on the world climate caused by the release into the atmosphere of CO2 resulting from human activity, and under human control, such as the burning and combustion of oil products from the refinery, of natural gas and coal (the fossil fuels) made it possible for the international community to agree to and establish a global climate agreement, viz. The Paris Agreement of 1915. In order to meet the objectives of this Agreement, governments will try (among other measures) to curb the consumption of fossil fuels. This will not be easy since, in particular in less advanced economies, fossil fuels are for the coming decades indispensable. In more advanced economies, there are alternatives available, but as long as a possible switching to nuclear fission energy meets with public opposition, even the more advanced economies will remain dependent on fossil fuels for the coming decades. In its deeply informed discussion of the involvement of industry and governments with the production and use of petroleum, the prodigious scope of the coverage encompasses the following and much more: technical and environmental aspects of the production of oil and natural gas; position and function of petroleum and natural gas in the economy; government policies and attitudes towards fossil fuels, particularly with respect to climate change; national and international regulation of onshore or offshore petroleum operations; how oil and natural gas markets work; old and new forms and manifestations of political risk; distinction between licence-based and contract-based petroleum legislation; production sharing agreements; and petroleum taxation. The author draws on laws, contracts, government policy documents, trade journals, and statistical data available from international organizations and institutes and international oil companies. Underlying much of the review and discussion are governmental concerns with the prospects for economic alternatives and control of CO2 emissions. The often conflicting policy options open to governments and the consequences, if any, for both oil and natural gas and the petroleum industry are reviewed and discussed. All statistics and projections regarding reserves, production and consumption of oil and natural gas have been updated. Because so much continues to happen in the realm covered by this book, all who depend on its previous editions will need this updated and significantly rewritten edition. An indispensable resource for petroleum policymakers at every level, this book is of special importance and interest to petroleum venture managers, as well as for lawyers, independent consultants, and other professionals who are required to give advice with respect to the economic, regulatory, and cooperative aspects of petroleum operations.
National oil companies (NOCs) play an important role in the world economy. They produce most of the world's oil and bankroll governments across the globe. This book explains the variation in performance and strategy for NOCs and provides fresh insights into the future of the oil industry.
In the process of resolving disputes, it is not uncommon for parties to justify actions otherwise in breach of their obligations by invoking the need to protect some aspect of the elusive concept of public order. Until this thoroughly researched book, the criteria and factors against which international dispute bodies assess such claims have remained unclear. Now, by providing an in-depth comparative analysis of relevant jurisprudence under four distinct international dispute resolution systems – trade, investment, human rights and international commercial arbitration – the author of this invaluable book identifies common core benchmarks for the application of the public order exception. To achieve the broadest possible scope for her analysis, the author examines the public order exception’s function, role and application within the following international dispute resolution systems: relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements as enforced by the organization’s Dispute Settlement Body and Appellate Body; international investment agreements as enforced by competent Arbitral Tribunals and Annulment Committees under the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes; provisions under the Inter-American Convention of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights as enforced by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, respectively; and the New York Convention as enforced by national tribunals across the world. Controversies, tensions and pitfalls inherent in invoking the public order exception are elucidated, along with clear guidelines on how arguments may be crafted in order to enhance prospects of success. Throughout, tables and graphs systematize key aspects of the relevant jurisprudence under each of the dispute resolution systems analysed. As an immediate practical resource for lawyers on any side of a dispute who wish to invoke or strengthen a public order exception claim, the book’s systematic analysis will be welcomed by lawyers active in WTO disputes, international investment arbitration, human rights law or enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Academics and policymakers will find a signal contribution to the ongoing debate on the existence, legal basis, content and functions of the transnational public order.
“A stunning piece of work—perhaps the best single book ever produced about our energy economy and its environmental implications” (Bill McHibbon, The New York Review of Books). Petroleum is so deeply entrenched in our economy, politics, and daily lives that even modest efforts to phase it out are fought tooth and nail. Companies and governments depend on oil revenues. Developing nations see oil as their only means to industrial success. And the Western middle class refuses to modify its energy-dependent lifestyle. But even by conservative estimates, we will have burned through most of the world’s accessible oil within mere decades. What will we use in its place to maintain a global economy and political system that are entirely reliant on cheap, readily available energy? In The End of Oil, journalist Paul Roberts talks to both oil optimists and pessimists around the world. He delves deep into the economics and politics, considers the promises and pitfalls of oil alternatives, and shows that—even though the world energy system has begun its epochal transition—we need to take a more proactive stance to avoid catastrophic disruption and dislocation.
“A brilliant, revisionist argument that places oil companies at the heart of 20th century history—and of the political and environmental crises we now face.” —Guardian Oil is a curse, it is often said, that condemns the countries producing it to an existence defined by war, corruption and enormous inequality. Carbon Democracy tells a more complex story, arguing that no nation escapes the political consequences of our collective dependence on oil. It shapes the body politic both in regions such as the Middle East, which rely upon revenues from oil production, and in the places that have the greatest demand for energy. Timothy Mitchell begins with the history of coal power to tell a radical new story about the rise of democracy. Coal was a source of energy so open to disruption that oligarchies in the West became vulnerable for the first time to mass demands for democracy. In the mid-twentieth century, however, the development of cheap and abundant energy from oil, most notably from the Middle East, offered a means to reduce this vulnerability to democratic pressures. The abundance of oil made it possible for the first time in history to reorganize political life around the management of something now called “the economy” and the promise of its infinite growth. The politics of the West became dependent on an undemocratic Middle East. In the twenty-first century, the oil-based forms of modern democratic politics have become unsustainable. Foreign intervention and military rule are faltering in the Middle East, while governments everywhere appear incapable of addressing the crises that threaten to end the age of carbon democracy—the disappearance of cheap energy and the carbon-fuelled collapse of the ecological order. In making the production of energy the central force shaping the democratic age, Carbon Democracy rethinks the history of energy, the politics of nature, the theory of democracy, and the place of the Middle East in our common world.
In sharp contrast to the globally expressed concern regarding the emission of CO2 stemming from the burning and combustion of fossil fuels, and the ongoing efforts to establish a new global Climate Agreement with binding commitments towards curbing such emissions, the demand for petroleum, next to coal making up the fossil fuels, is strong and as far as foreseeable will remain strong in the coming decades. Clearly, it is not expected that Government climate change policies following from the intended Climate Agreement will have much impact on the demand for both oil and natural gas in the coming years. There are good reasons for this at first sight surprising situation (and likewise for the fact that in any country the discovery of a new oil or gas field still may count on a warm welcome by the government concerned and the general public). In the first place there are no realistic, practical or cost-effective alternatives for the many sectors in the economy for which oil products and natural gas presently supply in varying degrees either the energy or the feedstock. In the second place, natural gas itself may serve as an alternative: in this case serving as an alternative for coal in the power sector due to the fact that natural gas scores much better than coal on the CO2-emission table, and that there are no realistic and practical non-fossil alternatives for this sector available, at least as long there is a strong public opposition against the use of nuclear energy. The latest statistics and projections about the total of remaining recoverable reserves, including proven reserves, make clear that the petroleum industry by further exploration and application of sophisticated production techniques, many times in extreme areas and/or under extreme conditions, must be expected to be able to satisfy any reasonable demand as currently projected. This third edition has been fully updated not only as far as statistics go but also with respect to petroleum legislation. But legislation, treaties, etc. that have lost their relevance have been deleted. Furthermore, the separation between licence-based petroleum legislation (Western countries) and contract-based petroleum legislation (non-Western countries) has been brought out more clearly and sharply in line with recent developments.
This work provides an overview of the regulatory, economic and policy forces which have shaped the organisation, development and internationalisation of the petroleum industry, focusing on the role of industry and government in the production and use of petroleum. The author analyses the development and working of the oil and natural gas markets, including issues such as the cost of supply and the establishment of producer prices, and the government policies underpinning the scope, objectives and structure of petroleum legislation. The discussion covers the main forms of co-operative production agreements, including joint ventures and unitisation agreements, licensing regimes, production sharing contracts, petroleum taxation and the international regulation of onshore and offshore petroleum operations. The book's broad scope, taking in law, economics and policy, will be of particular interest to lawyers, petroleum venture managers, independent consultants and other professionals who advise on the economic, regulatory and co-operative aspects of petroleum operations.
The petroleum industry is unique: it is an industry without which modern civilization would collapse. Despite the advances in alternative energy, petroleum’s role is still central. Petroleum still drives economics, geopolitics, and sometimes war. The history of petroleum is, to some measure, the history of the modern world. This book represents a concise but complete one-volume reference on the history of the petroleum industry from pre-modern times to the present day, covering all aspects of business, technology, and geopolitics. The book also presents an analysis of the future of petroleum, and a highly useful set of statistical graphs. Anyone interested in the history, status, and outlook for petroleum will find this book a uniquely valuable first place to look. This new second edition incorporates all the revolutionary changes in the petroleum landscape since the first edition was published, including the boom in extraction of oil and gas from shale formations using techniques such as fracking and horizontal drilling. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced entries on companies, people, events, technologies, countries, provinces, cities, and regions related to the history of the world’s petroleum industry. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the petroleum industry.
National oil companies are big business with about 80 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, and they are crucial to the world’s energy supplies. They are giants, some of the world’s largest companies, measured by market capitalisation, cash flow and investment. Little is known about their modus operandi, how they make decisions about investment and production or about relations with their government-owners. However, it is known that they conduct business with a political mandate, often with multiple long-term objectives, broadly defined and hard to quantify. Unclear mandates give national oil companies leeway to pursue their own distinctive interests, apart from those of the government-owner. As investors, governments are less zealous than private investors. They generally observe multiple objectives, not only return on capital. Therefore, the senior management of national oil companies enjoy more discretionary power and consider longer time horizons than their counterparts in the private sector. The Oil Business and the State explains the practice of state ownership in a capital-intensive industry with high risks and high return, and how these companies act in a market with imperfect competition. This book looks to give readers more insight into the oil industry, into the background of oil exporting countries as well as the economic and political challenges confronting them, including problems of state ownership. The book discusses wider consequences of China replacing the United States as the world’s leading oil importer. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of international business, management history, corporate governance, political economy and economic development of oil-rich countries.
