The thesis addresses the role of national oil companies and their overseas engagement in the foreign policy decision-making process of states. Over the past 40 years, national oil companies have gained importance in the international oil industry and currently control around 90 per cent of the global oil reserves. A number of political and economic factors – depleting domestic reserves, economic growth – have resulted in an increasing expansion of Asian national oil companies to Africa. Through the use of two Asian national oil companies – Malaysia's Petronas and India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) – and their overseas engagement in Sudan and South Sudan as case studies, the thesis assesses three aspects: factors and motives that influence the relationship between government institutions and Petronas and ONGC, the connection between this domestic relationship and the overseas engagement of both companies, and the implications of the overseas engagement of Petronas and ONGC in both Sudans for the foreign policy decision-making process of Malaysia and India. This set of questions is analysed through a comparative case study design that is supported by in-depth interviews and based on Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), proposing a four-level theoretical framework. This thesis thus seeks to demonstrate how FPA can help assess the connection between the domestic decision-making process and the international engagement of the companies. In doing so, it not only argues that process and engagement are in fact connected, but also critically addresses conventional assumptions about the overseas engagement of national oil companies. Furthermore, this thesis questions the idea that government institutions and national oil companies act in a coherent and coordinated manner when operating abroad.

La joint-venture est une technique juridique étroitement liée au secteur amont de l’industrie pétro-gazière internationale. Pratiquement, elle correspond dans ce domaine à des architectures contractuelles très diversifiées basées sur des ingénieries juridiques différentes. Depuis sa création dans l’industrie pétro-gazière américaine, la technique de la joint-venture, par sa grande adaptabilité congénitale, a généré différentes versions servant les relations juridiques entre les acteurs internationaux dans ce domaine. La structure juridique de chacune de ses variantes a une particularité qui lui est propre. Elle est formée selon les stratégies, les objectifs, les besoins, les expériences, les limites techniques et les moyens financiers et managériaux des participants. Dans ce contexte, l’étude sur le rôle de cette technique dans les relations juridiques entre deux principaux acteurs pétro-gaziers dans la seconde moitié du 20ème siècle est très importante. En effet, dès son entrée dans les relations juridiques entre les pays producteurs de pétrole et de gaz naturel et les sociétés pétro-gazières internationales, la technique de « joint-venture participation » est progressivement devenue la stratégie principale du secteur amont de l’industrie pétro-gazière des pays producteurs. En d'autres termes, quel que soit la structure contractuelle principale de l’État-hôte au secteur amont du pétrole et du gaz, lorsque lui, ou l’un de ses membres, participe conjointement,avec une société pétro-gazière internationale, à des projets d’exploration et de développement, le recours à la technique juridique de la joint-venture est indispensable.L’impact de telle participation sur la joint-venture est considérable. La présence d’un participant doté de prérogatives de la puissance publique au sein d’une joint-venture pétrogazière affecte l’équilibre paritaire entre les participants, et en conséquence influence sa structure juridique, son processus de formation et son fonctionnement. / The joint venture is a legal technic closely related to the international upstream oil and gasindustry. Practically, it corresponds to very diversified contractual architectures based ondifferent legal engineering. Since its creation in the USA oil and gas industry, the technic ofjoint venture with its great congenital adaptability has generated various versions assistingthe legal relationship of international players in this field. Legal structure of each of itsvariants has its particularities formed according to the strategies, objectives, needs,experiences, means and technical, financial and managerial limits surrounded participants. Inthis context, the study of the role of this technic in the contractual framework between twooil and gas main players in the second half of the 20th century is very important. Indeed, uponit enters in the legal relationship between oil and gas producers countries and international oiland gas companies, the technic of "participating joint venture" has gradually become a keystrategy of producers countries in their upstream oil and gas sector. In other words,regardless of the principal contractual structure of the host-state in upstream oil and gassector, where it or its dismemberment participates with an international oil and gas companyin exploration and development projects, the use of legal technic of the joint venture isindispensable. The impact of such participation on the joint venture is considerable. Thepresence of a participant with public powers within a petroleum joint venture affect the paritybalance among participants and therefore influence its legal structure, and the process of itsformation and its functioning.

As alternative fuels are becoming more common, technologies need to adjust to them. Natural gas is one of the alternative fuels that has grown during the latest years in the transport sector. Natural gas consists of around 97 % methane and is the cleanest fossil fuel. The use of natural gas can make it easier to transition to biogas as it has equivalent properties. Today Scania CV AB's trucks fuelled by natural gas are using auxiliary cabin heaters driven by diesel. This means that the natural gas trucks have two fuels on-board the truck. The goal of this project is to find a concept to eliminate the diesel fuel and replace it with an auxiliary cabin heater driven by another energy source. It will improve the heating solution and make it superior from an environmental perspective. The result of the project lead to a short-term solution with an auxiliary heater fuelled by natural gas. A long-term solution is to have a cooperation with a manufacturer to develop a better natural gas auxiliary heater that fulfils more of the requirements in the technical specification. An experiment plan is devised to test parameters out of reach of the project.

This study investigates the use of discretion by oil and gas companies in reporting financial performance and oil and gas reserve estimates during times of high political scrutiny resulting from increases in energy prices. Hypotheses tested in prior literature state that companies facing the risk of increasing taxes or new regulations reduce reported earnings to reduce this risk. This study uses a measure of high profitability (rank order of return on assets relative to industry peers) to identify oil and gas companies more likely to manage earnings during the period from 2002 to 2008. Two measures of discretionary accruals (total and current discretionary accruals), and a measure of discretionary depreciation, depletion, and amortization (DDA) were used as indicators of discretion exercised in reporting earnings. Data on oil and gas reserve disclosures was also hand-collected from Forms 10-K to investigate whether managers use reserve estimate revisions to reduce reported earnings through increasing the annual depletion expense. Results suggest that both oil and gas refining and producing firms use negative discretionary accruals to reduce reported earnings. Results also indicate that profitability is an important determinant of the use of negative discretionary accruals by these companies regardless of the time period examined. There is also evidence that oil and gas producing firms opportunistically revise their oil and gas reserve estimates to increase depreciation, depletion, and amortization expense during periods of high oil prices.

Diplomová práce se zaměřuje na kritické zhodnocení současné energetické politiky Evropské Unie a její dopady na účastníky trhu s energetickými komoditami, především s důrazem na energetické společnosti a koncové spotřebitele.

This work thoroughly analyzes a previously created computational model for predicting characteristic properties of the combustion process in an experimental combustion chamber. Any found shortcomings of the original model are removed and the model is further improved prior to its application on 11 real cases of combustion tests performed at various conditions and with various fuels. Data provided by the model are confronted with the data obtained during the combustion tests and the model accuracy is evaluated, based on local heat flux along the length of the combustion chamber. Finally, the overall usefulness of the model is determined by the means of evaluating the acquired accuracy values, and further possibilities of model improvement and use are presented.

This diploma’s thesis analyzes the possibility of accumulation of thermal power plants in the Czech Republic. The thesis is divided into several parts. The first part describes the different types of storage power plants, the historical development of power storage for compressed air and the appropriateness of their location. The second part is devoted to the design of storage power plant for compressed air in South Moravia. In the next chapter, a calculation is made of all equipment storage power plant, including turbo-compressor, combustion chamber, combustion turbines, the volume of storage tanks and two heat exchangers. The last part is the economic analysis of the return on investment of such a project.

Although the German framework of incentive-based energy regulation appears to be well-defined because it draws from international experience and eliminates several present drawbacks existing with revenue-cap regulation doubts of industry and politicians concerning the application of benchmarking techniques and more importantly, the future industry structure, remain. The regulation scheme is based on experience with energy sector reforms in the US due to it being a precursor in this regard, e.g. by introducing incentive-based regulation as early as 1994 and publishing the relevant data in a very detailed way. This thesis therefore brings together the two issues of certain efficiency measurement problems and the industry restructuring in Germany and the US in order to contribute to the current discussion of robust benchmarking and to provide political implications related to the industry’s structure. Therefore, the application of DEA and SFA constitutes the heart of the whole study. These techniques are applied on German electricity DSOs as well as on data for US electricity DSOs and US gas TSOs. The application to US data can then be used to derive information about business strategies and their success in a sector that is being restructured. The US experience will lead to relevant German policy implications with respect to the future structure of the energy industry in Germany. / Der deutsche Regulierungsansatz erscheint im Allgemeinen als ausgewogen, da er zum einen internationale Erfahrungen mit einbezieht und zum anderen bestehenden Schwächen der Erlös-Obergrenzenregulierung berücksichtigt. Dennoch bestehen Zweifel seitens Industrie- und Politvertretern bezüglich der Anwendung von Benchmarking-Techniken und noch bedeutsamer der zukünftigen Industriestruktur. Der regulatorische Rahmen basiert auf Erfahrungen aus der Regulierung der Energiewirtschaft aus den USA, da diese eine Vorreiterrolle in dieser Hinsicht innehaben, beispielsweise aufgrund der frühen Einführung der Anreizregulierung in 1994 und der sehr detaillierten Veröffentlichung der relevanten Daten. Diese Arbeit verknüpft daher diese zwei Aspekte zum einen der Existenz gewisser Problemfelder bei der Effizienzmessung als auch der Umstrukturierung der deutschen Industriestruktur in der Energiewirtschaft. Damit trägt sie zu der aktuellen Diskussion mit Bezug auf robustes Benchmarking bei und liefert zudem politische Implikationen bezüglich der Industriestruktur. Zu diesem Zweck steht die Anwendung der für die deutsche Regulierung der Energienetze relevanten Benchmarking-Techniken (Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) und Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA)) im Zentrum der gesamten Studie. Die empirischen Analysen beziehen sich dabei auf deutsche Elektrizitätsverteilnetzbetreiber sowie auf Elektrizitätsverteilnetzbetreibern und Ferngasgesellschaften aus den USA. Die Analysen von US Daten können dann genutzt werden, um gehaltvolle Informationen über Unternehmensstrategien und deren Erfolg in einem restrukturierten Sektor zu gewinnen. Diese Erfahrungen münden dann in Schlussfolgerungen und Empfehlungen für die deutsche Regulierung und Industriestruktur der deutschen Energienetzwirtschaft.

Comme de nombreux grands projets industriels, Énergie Saguenay a généré sa part de controverse. En effet, de 2014 à aujourd’hui, différents acteurs ont publiquement partagé leurs conceptions du projet. Ils l’ont défini à leur manière, s’opposant et se rejoignant parfois sur certains points. Mon objectif de recherche général est donc de décrire le processus de dispute propre à Énergie Saguenay dans ses caractéristiques rhétoriques et ses effets propres. Pour rendre compte de cet objectif, je mobilise trois littératures scientifiques. Premièrement, la littérature sur les controverses sociotechniques m’a permis de concevoir comment, d’un côté, des réseaux d’acteurs se forment et évoluent par et tout au long d’une controverse et de l’autre, comment les controverses agissent comme un lieu d’apprentissage et d’expression. Deuxièmement, je me suis inspirée de la problématisation, première étape du modèle de la traduction (Callon, 1986), pour identifier les points passages obligés (PPO) de la controverse Énergie Saguenay, soit ses principaux enjeux auxquels les acteurs doivent consentir pour sceller des alliances. Finalement, j’ai fait appel à la théorie des arguments de définition mise de l’avant par Schiappa (2003) et Zarefsky (1997) pour définir dans quel genre de controverse s’inscrit Énergie Saguenay et comment les définitions particulières d’un phénomène, en particulier le gaz en tant qu’énergie de transition, participent à la formulation de PPO. Dans l’ensemble, mon travail de recherche contribue à rendre compte des manières dont les pratiques de définition nous aident à comprendre comment, sur le plan rhétorique, se créent des points de passage obligés dans une controverse. Plus spécifiquement, par l’analyse des mémoires déposés au BAPE par les acteurs qui composent les groupes sociaux qui ont participé à la controverse, mon étude met de l’avant les différentes pratiques de définition et conceptions du gaz naturel qui existent en ce moment au Québec comme autant de PPO permettant aux acteurs de s’allier ou de s’opposer les uns aux autres, tout au long de la controverse. / Like many large industrial projects, Énergie Saguenay has generated its share of controversy. Indeed, from 2014 to today, various groups of social actors have publicly shared their conceptions of the project. They defined it in their own way, agreeing on some points and disagreeing on others. My general research objective is therefore to describe the dispute process specific to Énergie Saguenay in its rhetorical characteristics and its own effects. To account for this objective, I will mobilize three scientific literatures. First, the literature on socio-technical controversies has allowed me to conceive how on the one hand, networks of social actors are formed and evolve during a controversy and on the other, how controversies create a space for learning and expression. Second, I was inspired by problematization, the first stage of the translation model (Callon, 1986), to identify the obligatory points of passage (OPP) of the Énergie Saguenay controversy, i.e., these main issues to which the various groups of social actors must agree to seal alliances. Finally, I appealed to the theory of definition arguments put forward by Schiappa (2003) and Zarefsky (1997) to define what category of controversy Énergie Saguenay fits into and how the specific definitions of a phenomenon (in particular gas as a transition energy) participate in the formulation of OPP. Overall, my research helps capture the ways in which defining practices help us understand how, at the rhetorical level, OPPs are created in controversy. More specifically, by analyzing the briefs submitted to the BAPE by the actors who make up the social groups who had participated in the controversy, my study puts forward the different definition practices that contributed to the conceptions of natural gas that currently exist in Québec, as so many OPPs allow the actors to align or oppose each other throughout the controversy.

A method of producing steel that is not used in Sweden today is direct reduction using natural gas, a method which could has enormous potential in the future of steelmaking. Historically, steelmaking prioritized productivity and profitability. However, other aspects such as safety, sustainability, and environmentally friendliness have become increasingly important to Swedish steelmakers. This study evaluates the usage of natural gas to  directly reduce iron ore into the porous form known as iron sponge, then finally processing that sponge into crude steel. The technology available today is assessed through a literature review, then two calculative data-based model: using DRI sponge in a traditional integrated steelmaking line or replacing steel scrap with it in an electric arc furnace. While this technology is used in many regions where natural gas is plentiful, it has not yet been used in Sweden. Now, when the Swedish natural gas network is expanding and the vehicular transportation of liquid natural gas is becoming more and more viable, it is a prime situation to evaluate direct reduction in Sweden. While models require assumptions and estimations, they suggest that DRI will absolutely be a viable option in the years to come. Integrated plant operators can reduce their immense carbon emissions for a reasonable price, while DRI sponge melting in an electrical arc furnace can either help steelmakers escape the volatile scrap market or be used to replace the blast furnace as a whole in the future. / En metod för att producera stål som inte används i Sverige idag är direkt reduktion med hjälp av naturgas, en metod som har en enorm potential i framtida ståltillverkning. Historiskt har ståltillverkningen prioriterat produktivitet och vinst, men säkerhet, hållbarhet, och miljövänlighet har blivit områden mer och mer viktiga för svenska ståltillverkare. Den här studien utvärderar användningen av naturgas för att direkt reducera järnmalm till den porösa formen känd som järnsvamp, och sen bearbeta den till primärt stål. Teknologin som flnns idag utvärderas genom en litteraturstudie, vars data beräknas till två scenariomodeller: användningen av järnsvamp i ett traditionellt integrerat stålverk eller genom att ersätta stålskrot med järnsvamp i ljusbågsungen. Den här teknologin används redan idag i regioner där naturgas är lättillgängligt, men har hittills inte använts i Sverige. Men nu när Sveriges naturgasnät byggs ut och fordonstransporterad flytande naturgas blir mer och mer kostnadseffektiv så är det lämpligt att utvärdera direkt reduktion i Sverige. Modellerna kräver antaganden och uppskattningar, men de pekar på att direkt reducering av järnmalm kommer att vara en genomförbar metod för ståltillverkning i en nära framtid. Integrerade masugnslinjer kan minska sina enorma koldioxidutsläpp till ett rimligt pris, och järnsvampssmältning i ljusbågsugn kan hjälpa ståltillverkare att undanfly den instabila stålskrotsmarknaden eller användas för att helt ersätta masugnsproduktion i framtiden.