Introduction: Oil/gas communities across Northeastern British Columbia are experiencing rapid in-migration of young, primarily male workers in response to an economic ‘boom’ in the oil/gas sectors. Accompanying the ‘boom’ has been a rise in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people, with Chlamydia rates among youth in the Northeast exceeding the provincial average by 22%. Previous research indicates that socio-cultural and structural determinants of youth sexual behaviour and access to STI testing are important for understanding youth sexual health disparities – and represent key targets for STI prevention efforts. No other research has explored STIs in this rapidly developing, under-resourced context. Therefore, objectives of this thesis were to: (1) Examine how socio-cultural and structural features related to the oil/gas ‘boom’ affect the sexual behaviour of young people in Fort St. John (FSJ), BC; (2) Gather the perspectives of youth and their service providers on the socio-cultural and structural barriers to STI testing in FSJ; (3) Develop recommendations to improve the accessibility of STI testing. Results: Participants identified 4 main ways in which the socio-cultural and structural conditions created by the ‘boom’ affect sexual behaviours, fuelling the spread of STIs in FSJ: mobility of oil/gas workers; binge partying; high levels of disposable income; and gendered power dynamics. As well, 5 key barriers to STI testing among youth were identified: limited opportunities for access; geographic inaccessibility; local social norms; limited information; and negative interactions with providers. Discussion: These data indicate that the conditions fostered by the ‘boom’ in FSJ exacerbate sexual health inequalities among young people. They can be more widely contextualized as an example of the unintended – but not unexpected – health and social implications of a resource-extraction ‘boom’, illustrating the fallacy of ‘development’ as representing uniformly positive ‘progress’. Recommended actions include STI prevention and testing service delivery models that incorporate a locally tailored public awareness campaign, outreach to oil/gas workers, condom distribution, expanded clinic hours and drop-in appointments, specialized training for health care providers, and intersectoral partnerships between public health, non-profit organizations, and industry. An ongoing knowledge translation internship has been undertaken to implement some of these recommendations. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

Diploma thesis focuses on energy security of EU with special attention paid to oil and natural gas and their perspectives. Specifics of these resources are discussed as well as countries with biggest proven reserves. Further on it analyses present and projected transport infrastructure for oil and natural gas. Primary energy mix is discussed with detailed sections on both resources and their specifics in EU. Recommendations for diversification both in suppliers and sources are made in the final section.

The work is written and solved in the context of ongoing crisis in Ukraine, which is a major transit country for Russian gas and oil to the EU. The subject of this diploma thesis is to analyze three possible scenarios of EU energy policy in the field of oil and gas with respect to the situation in Ukraine. The aim of this work is to answer the question what direction should the energy policy of EU have in case of oil and gas and to what extent it is influenced by the Ukrainian crisis, based on an analysis of the facts and the current energy situation of the EU. The work is divided into two parts, where the first is characterization of the major players -- the European Union, Russia and Ukraine. In the second part, three possible scenarios for the EU energy policy are analyzed. The proposed possible solutions for energy situation based on the analysis of the facts assessed in the thesis, is the change of the EU attitude towards the shale and unconventional petroleum and natural gas.

Depleting oil reserves and fluctuating oil prices have necessitated to increase the efficiency of oil production process. This thesis is focused on developing low-cost sensors, which can increase oil production efficiency through real-time monitoring of oil wells and help in safe transport of oil products from the wells to the refineries. Produced fluid from an oil well is a complex mixture of oil, water and gases, which needs to be quantified for various strategic and operational decisions. For many years, test separators have been used to separate oil, water and gases into three separate streams and then to analyse them individually. However, test separators are being replaced by multiphase flow meters (MPFM) which can analyse the complex mixture of oil, water and gas without separating it. However, existing MPFMs are either intrusive or require fluid mixing before the sensing stage. In contrast to existing techniques, first part of this thesis presents a microwave sensor, which can measure water fraction in oil in a non-intrusive way without requiring it to be mixed. Gas fraction sensing can also be performed using the same microwave sensor, which is an on-going work. The sensor operates on dielectric measurement principles and comprises a microstrip T-resonator that has been optimized for a 3D pipe surface. Certain locations on an oil field have limited available space, for which we have also presented a compact version of the microwave water-fraction sensor in this thesis. In this version, metallic housing of the sensor has been used to function as a ground plane for the coaxially located spiral resonator. This housing also protects the sensor from environmental effects. In addition to the efficient production of oil, its safe transport is also a concern for the industry. It is physically impossible to inspect a network of thousands of kilometres of pipelines manually. The existing leak detectors suffer from low sensitivity, high false alarms and dependence on environmental effects. In the last part of this thesis, we present a flexible ringresonator based leak detector, which can be clamped at vulnerable locations along the pipeline for early leak detection.

Many resource-rich countries have adopted domestic policies such as local content policies (LCPs) to make sure that their nationals profit from their resources and to ensure economic development for their countries. However Despite the value that LCPs bring into the local economy, they might be in conflict with international investment agreements. The study will look at what local content entails and what international investment agreements entail. The study will look into the possible areas of conflict such as employment requirements, support schemes and local procurement and determine whether such measures are in conflict with international investment agreements. The findings of the study outline that local content policies are in breach with international investment agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Public Law / LLM / Unrestricted

The resource ‘curse’ is premised on an inverse relationship between mineral wealth and economic growth. The declamation pertaining to the reasons for, and exceptions to, the resource ‘curse’ remains inconclusive. MNCs are cited amongst the reasons for the resource ‘curse’, particularly in developing economies. However, Africa (and the role of MNCs) remains underrepresented in resource ‘curse’ literature. In light of this, the study’s aim is to determine how MNCs in Mozambique’s gas sector could be considered a causal channel of the resource ‘curse’, as the contest for relatively untapped natural gas reserves in Mozambique is intensifying. An exploratory case study is provided, where Phase I consisted of 11 qualitative interviews with 14 oil and gas experts while Phase II analysed secondary data in the form of public documents and audio-visual materials, intended to supplement and verify the interview data. The results reveal that MNCs (i) promote and prioritize their CSR initiatives to mask their inability (or unwillingness) to adhere to local content directives and (ii) leverage the diplomatic relationships of their home country government to supersede the host country’s sovereignty. Moreover, the Mozambican government’s cultural practices exacerbated the prospects of a resource ‘curse’ outcome. The study concludes that the MNC, in the case of Africa, in particular Mozambique and Angola, is indeed a channel of the resource ‘curse’. / Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MPhil (International Business) / Unrestricted

This master's thesis is aimed at analyzing the integration processes between the European Union and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a major oil and gas supplier, while the European Union actively seeks diversification of energy resource supplies for the purpose of reaching higher energy security. The aim of the research is to investigate the relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union. The nature of relations between the two stated subjects are being analyzed, and the main preconditions favoring such relations. In order to provide comprehensive analysis, the situation of Azerbaijan's relations with the European Union with the same bilateral relations with the EU of Turkey, Ukraine and China are being analyzed within this thesis.

This study examined the impact of the ceiling test write-off on the stock prices of affected full cost (FC) oil and gas firms.

Hydraulic fracturing is a novel technological development that has pushed the extraction of energy resources forward. As technology improves and world oil and gas markets shift, more shale formations are being uncovered, and new drilling activities are seen as economically viable. I examine the ways in which residents perceive environmental and health risks of hydraulic fracturing in the Eagle Ford Shale region of Texas, and how these perceptions differ depending on social position and where the resident is receiving their information. To understand how residents perceive the environmental and health risks associated with the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas boom, or if these perceptions differ by social status and information sources, I conducted a qualitative analysis of key informant and focus group interview data, coding for major themes found in interview transcripts. I found that groups in lower social positions had increased concern regarding environmental and health risk perceptions than those in higher social positions. Additionally, respondents in lower social positions discussed all environmental and health risk perceptions with a relatively higher breadth and depth than those in higher social positions. Regarding information sources, those in higher social positions tend to receive more of their information on hydraulic fracturing from government officials and industry. Those in lower social positions receive more information from interpersonal networks, although they generally discussed a general lack of information concerning oil and gas development. These findings contribute to a relatively small field of growing research on resident perceptions in a hydraulic fracturing context. This research also brings attention to rural populations who are being uniquely impacted by hydraulic fracturing and provides insight into a region, the Eagle Ford Shale, where there is a need for more scholarly research.

The offshore wind industry has advanced over the years and has attracted investments from oil & gas corporations. Europe is currently the main market for offshore wind development but in the heat of climate issues, there are calls from world bodies like The World Bank to develop this type of technology in other markets since it has been proven to be effective in displacing carbon emissions. This thesis explores the factors that could contribute to attract investments from the oil & gas industry into offshore wind development in emerging markets.  The thesis highlights the contributions oil & gas corporations have made towards the advancement of this technology. Further analysis is made on the weaknesses and strengths in developing this type of technology in selected countries which are categorised as emerging offshore wind markets to understand what is hindering the development of this energy in other markets.  Also, a direct question is posed to selected oil & gas corporations to ascertain what factors could attract them to invest in offshore wind development in these emerging markets. In the results, this thesis projects that oil & gas corporations will invest in these markets based on profitability, the need to affiliate with renewables to protect their businesses and as a safe measure against a decline in their core business of operation. The thesis also makes suggestions on ways emerging markets could attract investments from oil & gas corporations.