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The aim of this thesis is to achieve both a theoretical and empirical understanding of the local public inquiry system in the context of controversial North Sea oil and gas onshore developments. Part one develops a theoretical framework within which an analytical vocabulary is generated to describe the case studies in part two. it is argued that a concept of the political process which acknowledges that power and participation are inextricably bound together in public institutions is particularly appropriate for studying an institution such as a local public inquiry because it is both an instrument of government and a means of ensuring the fulfillment of 'natural justice' to individuals affected by planning and development issues. Part one develops this idea first through an historical examination of the concept of 'natural justice1 as a conflict between 'common-sense' notions of justice and 'formal' legal and administrative interpretations of what is 'fair', and then as a theoretical debate between the critical theory of Jurgen Habermas and the systems theory of Nicklas Luhmann. Part one concludes by arguing that the essence of the tension between Habermas and Luhmann articulates the tension between 'common-sense' notions of justice and 'formal legal' notions and that by using the vocabulary of 'classification and framing of knowledge' developed within educational sociology by Basil Bernstein, the Habermas-Luhmann debate can be condensed into an analytical tool enclosed within one theoretical structure. Power and participation as inter-connected forms of political engagement are expressed within the concept of the 'classification and framing of knowledge' as conflicting patterns in the relationship between knowledge and information and the institutional procedures that process that knowledge and information. Part two explicitly seeks to use the concept of the 'classification and framing' of knowledge to make visible the principles of power and social control that operate in large public inquiries. Attention is focused on local public inquiries into North Sea oil and gas onshore development; the case studies of the Cromarty Firth, Dunnet Bay and Drumbuie are described to illustrate how the 'classification and framing1 of knowledge operated in the Highlands in the 1970's. The case of Shell/Esso's petrochemical development in Fife is examined in detail to describe, first, the nature of participation and discontent within the local public inquiry system, and secondly, the relationship between the formation of local opposition in the form of an action group and the nature of the constraints imposed upon that organisation by the local public inquiry system. Part three attempts to clarify the theoretical and practical problems involved in reforming the local public inquiry system within the terms established by this thesis. The work of Jurgen Habermas is considered pivotal for developing a critical sociology of the public sphere. It is tentatively suggested that the new social movements rooted in ecology and opposition to nuclear power could be the bearers of an emerging critical theory of society and technology which might the grounding for a unified theory and practice which could lead to institutional change in society generally and in the planning sphere in particular.

This thesis examines the results of the future exploration drilling activities expected to be committed between 1995-2014 in the mature areas of the UK North Sea. The study employs Monte Carlo simulation techniques to quantify the risk of exploration ventures by estimating the expected value of the exploration decisions in a mature hydrocarbon province where both the exploration success and the size of the discovered fields are shown to be diminishing with advancing exploration. The study explicitly takes into account the risks which are associated with both geological and economic uncertainties. The prime objective is to model and forecast the significant quantities of oil, condensate, and gas to be discovered given the specified levels of committed exploratory effort. Due to the presence of different geological and prospectivity characteristics, the whole North Sea province is divided into three basins namely the Southern, Central and Northern basins each of which has been treated and studied separately. The commercial merits of the future discoveries for potential development purposes have been determined through the application of different parameters for future oil and gas prices, various costs of field exploration and development, etc. The impact of the fiscal regime on the commercial viability of the future discoveries has also been explicitly examined. After identifying the future discoveries with commercial significance in the North Sea, their resulting production, costs, revenues, tax bill, and the net present values are presented in detail. To create a wider picture for the new field discoveries and their eventual contribution to the overall production in the North Sea, the future exploration and production activities have been examined under three different scenarios each reflecting varying geological and economic circumstances.

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The probe permeameter is a recently developed device providing a small scale measurement of permeability. About 15,000 probe permeameter measurements were acquired for analysis during this study. These data were acquired by Statoil from cores in two North Sea wells. These cores are from the Middle Iurassic Rannoch Formation of the Brent Group. This reservoir unit was selected for this study because of its laminated nature and challenge to conventional description and simulation practice. All aspects of probe permearnetry are investigated in this study; the volume of investigation, the compatibility with measurements at larger scales, the measurement statistics. the optimum sample spacing. the relationship of the measurements to the geological description and the scale-up of data for two-phase numerical reservoir simulation. Careful analysis of probe and traditional plug data shows that the measurements are compatible. Systematic differences could be accounted for by different treatment effects of the material. The probe measurements show that the permeability distribution in the Rannoch Formation is closely related to the primary depositional structure of the sediment at a hierarchy of scales. This observation is used in combination with conventional simulation techniques to build a more geologically-realistic numerical model of the Rannoch Formation. The scale-up of the small scale measurements is achieved by generation of effective properties for geologically representative elements at various scales and is called the "geopseudo" method. The scale of the natural building blocks within the sediment were determined with the aid of an appropriate outcrop analogue. The model results compare favourably with field production data. This work demonstrates. for the first time. a systematic method for the scale-up of small scale petrophysical properties associated with lamination in sedimentary rocks. as measured by the probe permeameter. Laminated reservoirs are widely encountered and this work. therefore. makes a significant contribution to reservoir engineering practice.

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