The macro-economy of Saudi Arabia has been dominated by oil exports which between 1970 and 1995 accounted for more than 85 percent of total export earnings. Due to the fact that oil is an exhaustible resource, the price of which fluctuates considerably, and is produced in an enclave economy, the Saudi Arabian government had recognized the need to diversity their economy away from oil as the main source of income. Since the oil price crashed, in 1986, the Saudi Arabian government has adopted a new policy to develop non-oil sectors, such as manufacturing, agriculture and more recently, non-oil minerals. This study focuses on the minerals sector in Saudi Arabia which is considered one of the economic activities which has already started to achieve the strategic goal of economic diversification away from oil activities as the main source of national income. Considerable attention has been paid to the large reserves of strategic minerals that have been found such as, phosphate and bauxite. Mining has been embraced by the Saudi government not only to diversify the national economy, but also to stimulate the economy, generate employment opportunities, attract foreign capital, and encourage citizens to invest their money. Therefore, an exploitation of these minerals requires a high demand for transportation infrastructure, the provision of which has become a necessity. The development of transportation infrastructure plays an important role in the economic development of a country, and therefore the railway is considered an economic lifeline for minerals development in the Kingdom, as it will facilitate the transport of raw materials and provide mobility for workers to reach the work place and products to the market place. Moreover, it should facilitate the diversification of the national economy and has the potential to be a powerful instrument in promoting long-term growth and employment.

This thesis empirically examines the effects of oil prices on the trade balances of oil importing and exporting Sub-Saharan African countries. These countries depend heavily on international trade for foreign exchange and economic growth, and fluctuations in oil prices have direct implications for their terms of trade. This thesis contributes to the oil price-trade balance literature by focusing on three aspects of this relationship that are unexplored. First, this thesis introduces the issue of nonlinear oil price effects to the trade balance literature. Using a Threshold Vector Autoregressive Model, it estimates asymmetric and threshold effects of oil prices on the trade balance, focusing on oil price volatility as the source of nonlinearity. Nonlinearities are shown to be stronger in the effects of oil price volatility shocks than oil price level shocks: volatility shocks have larger effects on the trade balance when they occur in an already volatile environment, and decreases in oil price volatility have larger effects than increases. Second, this thesis pioneers the empirical investigation of the role of real exchange rates in determining the effects of oil prices on the trade balance. Using a Cross Section Dependence robust panel data method, this thesis shows that real exchange rate depreciations reduce the effects of oil prices on the trade balances of SSA countries, while real appreciations reinforce these effects. Third, this thesis is the first study to empirically investigate how higher international financial risk sharing affects the response of the trade balance to oil prices. To do this, it employs a Panel Smooth Transition Regression model. The results show that oil importing SSA countries that are well integrated in global financial markets, with higher access to foreign funds, fare better when the oil price is high: they are able to avoid large fluctuations in their nonoil trade balances by smoothing nonoil consumption.

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Located at the crossroads of the major supply and demand regions for the energy markets of the East and West, Turkey can be a major energy hub and/or transit country. With its remarkable consumption rates, natural gas is expected to supply almost a quarter of the energy used in the country by 2023 despite other fuels. In view of a future accession to the EU, Turkey’s restructuring of its inherently monopolistic gas industry began through the Natural Gas Market Law of 2001. However, as the recent history of gas market liberalisation in Turkey demonstrates, many of the measures that had been initially considered for adoption have either been postponed or have never been adopted especially during the last decade when liberalisation was thought to be the answer for the sectors’ most problems. Taking the perspective of qualitative research methods, this thesis firstly seeks to expand the understanding of the natural gas liberalisation process within the EU context with an emphasis on mandatory regulatory instruments (i.e. market opening, regulatory authority, unbundling and third party access) and the Gas Target Model. It critically examines the key challenges persisted around Turkey’s institutional landscape, regulatory reforms and gas pricing mechanisms which impact the country’s gas sector liberalisation. The data was accrued from a combination of documents, archival records and interviews which were conducted with key members of staff across two institutions (EMRA, BOTAS), and private gas companies operating in Turkey. Despite fifteen years of legal transformation with limited evidence of an impact on competition overall, the overarching objective during the data collection process was to extensively investigate the Turkish gas market and to ask key individuals -as insiders- directly for their views regarding why the liberalisation has so far been (un)successful in Turkey, why the differences in the adoption of the liberalisation model still persist amongst different segments of the market and what is the optimum way for Turkey to proceed with progress towards liberalisation and the Gas Target Model. This research found that the Turkish gas market is highly politicised and there is a lack of commitment to curtailing the exercise of monopoly power. This thesis offers the recommendations that policy makers should give due consideration to the consolidation of EMRA’s independent role and to make its decisions challengeable with appropriate safeguards laid out against attempts of misuse as a regulator. This thesis concludes by suggesting that there is a compelling need to move forward with a consolidated reform III strategy sooner rather than later should Turkey genuinely wants to take a leadership position in the regional race to be a gas ‘hub’, and indeed to be part of the single European gas market.

Oil refineries underpin modern day economics, finance and engineering – without their refined products the world would stand still, as vehicles would not have petrol, planes grounded without kerosene and homes not heated, without heating oil. In this thesis I study the refinery as a financial asset; it is not too dissimilar to a chemical plant, in this respect. There are a number of reasons for this research; over recent years there have been legal disputes based on a refiner's value, investors and entrepreneurs are interested in purchasing refineries, and finally the research in this arena is sparse. In this thesis I utilise knowledge and techniques within finance, optimisation, stochastic mathematics and commodities to build programs that obtain a financial value for an oil refinery. In chapter one I introduce the background of crude oil and the significance of the refinery in the oil value chain. In chapter two I construct a traditional discounted cash flow valuation often applied within practical finance. In chapter three I program an extensive piecewise non linear optimisation solution on the entire state space, leveraging off a simulation of the refined products using a set of single factor Schwartz (1997) stochastic equations often applied to commodities. In chapter four I program an optimisation using an approximation on crack spread option data with the aim of lowering the duration of solution found in chapter three; this is achieved by utilising a two-factor Hull & White sub-trinomial tree based numerical scheme; see Hull & White (1994) articles I & II for a thorough description. I obtain realistic and accurate numbers for a topping oil refinery using financial market contracts and other real data for the Vadinar refinery based in Gujurat India.

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This work-based project is an investigation of the interaction between multicultural crews and safety management systems and the influences of this interaction on health and safety in the offshore oil Industry. This study has been carried out in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctorate of Professional Studies at the Institute of Work Based Learning, Middlesex University, London. The aim of this project is to minimise occupational casualties in the industry by exploring the social science paradigms of human action and cultural diversity, and it relies heavily on ethnographic methodologies. The qualitative data collection techniques chosen are structured observations, semistructured interviews, focus groups and a research diary. The key themes that emerged from the project highlighted the perception of high consequences/low probability risk among the working community. In this context, the cultural relativity of the hazard perception is an instrument used to maintain group solidarity. The group that emerged from this work-based research is culturally-biased according to a ‘way of life’ that characterises it, and predisposes it to adopt a particular view of society at work. The data collected and analysed in this ethnographic investigation establish the fact that cultural bias and shared values have influenced how safety is lived and, most importantly, seen and perceived by the workforce community. The concept of “cross-cultural safety consciousness” is proposed in this research, along with a conceptual model for a practical approach to safety based on its findings, with the aim being to reduce the number of incidents in the offshore oil industry. The project may have an international impact and relevance; professional organisations and maritime trade unions have displayed interest in the outcomes of this investigation.

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Motivated by the problem of crude oil price volatility, this research is examining interdependences between crude oil price and each of GDP, foreign account, gold price, futures price, and also, stock markets. The research was mainly directed at examining the impact of oil price volatility on the economic variables of the commodity’s export dependent economies, with particular reference to Nigeria. However the outcomes provide a framework for extensions and application to the economic conditions of net oil importing countries, other primary commodities, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and crude oil revenue management. As the research is motivated by the behaviour of a commodity (oil), economy or share (indices) over time, the study applies time series analysis in order to address the research questions. In examining if crude oil price volatility has any impact on the commodity’s export dependent economies such as Nigeria, chapter 4’s analysis found evidence of oil price volatility impact on the Bonny Light (BL) spot, GDP and also, foreign reserve account. In trying to identify an efficient price hedging mechanism for the BL, chapter 5 found that the West Texas Intermediate’s futures price is able to predict the BL spot. Chapter 6 examined potentials for market efficiency and volatility transmission between crude oil spot and the stock markets of selected oil export dependent countries. The results suggest evidence of volatility transmission in most tested series pairs. Thus, given the examined variables in this research, the overall outcome suggest a widening influence of crude oil price volatility on the commodity’s export dependent economies at large.