There is great expectation that oil development in Ghana will catapult the nation towards prosperity and lead to drastic improvement in the wellbeing of Ghanaians. However, there is also concern that Ghana could fail to achieve these due to the resource curse notwithstanding the fact that scholars of the curse have yet to agree on the inevitability of the curse. Resource curse scholars adduce different reasons for its occurrence or absence. One thing common among the scholars, however, is that none discusses environmental justice in the context of the curse. In this dissertation, I examine Ghana's attempts at avoiding the resource curse through policymaking and implementation using the Guidelines on Environmental Assessment and Management of Ghana's offshore oil sector as a case study. I argue that a strong environmental justice frame is required to avert the curse in Ghana. Specifically, I assess the policy process in Ghana's oil sector, the institutional framework for managing the sector, and analyze the perception of environmental justice for policymaking. The outcome of these assessments show that although the policy process requires broadening for full and effective participation, Ghana has checks and balances policies to avert the resource curse and to deliver environmental justice in the oil sector. In addition, Ghana has an institutional framework that requires strengthening, in various way, in order for it to complement the checks and balances policies

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the maintenance management system (MMS) on production output and profitability (PO&P) at the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) GTL Refinery as a source of competitive advantage. State-Owned Companies and, or more specifically the PetroSA GTL Refinery must maintain its strategic importance for government fuel security but, at the same time, it must compete against private refineries in terms of achieving high production volumes, maximising profitability and to maintain its stake of 6.5% of the available production capacity. The literature review for this study suggested that the maintenance management system (MMS) impacts positively on production output and profitability (PO&P). The MMS has a tremendous influence on PO&P at the PetroSA GTL Refinery. Using a quantitative research design, cross-sectional research survey and the Maintenance Scorecards (MS) assessment tool, this study was conducted on six areas of the PetroSA GTL Refinery. Two population groups, namely production and maintenance groups participated in the survey. Fifty-six respondents belonged to the maintenance group and thirty-eight respondents belonged to the Production Group. All the Maintenance and Production Group respondents completed the MS questions designed to fit the characteristics of these population groups. Correlation analysis in terms of the means, standard deviations, gap analysis, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) as well as the coefficient of determination (R²) was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicated a moderate positive linear correlation between the MMS and PO&P. Recommendations based on the findings were tabled in chapter 7 to improve and enhance production perspective (asset health gap), safety perspective (asset prioritisation gap) and the learning and growth perspective (skills and working condition gap). / Business Management / M. Com. ((Business Management)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The oil industry is under pressure to select refinery projects that will provide higher and more predictable returns. In the past Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) techniques have been used to choose between refinery project alternatives. One of the problems with DCF techniques is that they ignore management flexibility when evaluating projects that contain embedded options. Real Option Valuation (ROV) is an approach that takes management flexibility into account and places a value on this flexibility. ROV has been used extensively by the oil industry for the evaluation of oil and gas reserves. The aim of this study is to determine the extent to which the use of ROV will improve the decision making process when evaluating a refining project containing embedded options as well as to determine the most appropriate option valuation method for refining projects. This was done by evaluating a refining project using both a probabilistic DCF approach and the various option pricing models and comparing the results. It was concluded that ROV will improve the decision making process when evaluating refining projects containing embedded options. The most appropriate option pricing method for refining projects was found to be the simulation approach since simulation is already being used by refineries to perform probabilistic DCF analysis. It is not recommended that ROV should be blindly applied to all refining projects containing embedded options. The use of ROV should be limited to larger refining projects for which probabilistic cash flows have been developed and the extent of the ROV analysis required should be determined by a careful review of the net present value (NPV) cumulative probability curves. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die olie industrie is onder druk geplaas om projekte te kies met 'n hoër opbrengs op kapitaal en 'n opbrengs wat meer voorspelbaar is. In die verlede is slegs die Verdiskonteerde Kontant Vloei (VKV) metode gebruik om projekte te selekteer vir die raffinadery. Een van die onderliggende tekortkominge met die gebruik van die VKV metode is dat verskillende bestuursopsies in terme van alternatiewe met ingeboude opsies, nie voldoende ondersoek word nie. Reële Opsie Waardasie (ROW) is 'n metode wat bestuursopsies in ag neem deur 'n waarde te plaas op elke beskikbare bestuursopsie. ROW het wye toepassings in die olie industrie vir die evaluasie van gas en olie reserves. Die doel van hierdie studie is om te bepaal tot watter mate die gebruik van ROW die besluitnemingsproses sal verbeter in terme van die evaluasie van projekte met ingeboude opsies vir raffinaderye en watter opsiewaardasie metode die mees geskikte is vir sulke projekte. 'n Raffinadery projek is evalueer deur beide KV en verskeie opsie-prysbepalingsmetodes te gebruik en die resultate is vergelyk. Die resultate van die studie het bewys dat die ROW metode die besluitnemingsproses verbeter. Die studie het gewys dat die mees geskikte opsie-waardasie metode vir projekte in the raffinadery die simulasie benadering is omdat simulasie alreeds vir probalisties VKV ontleding gebruik word. 'n Verdere aanbeveling is dat die ROW metode nie blindelings gevolg moet word vir alle projekte met ingeboude opsies nie. Die gebruik van ROW moet beperk word tot groter projekte waarvoor probabilistiese kontantvloei alreeds ontwikkel is. Die mate van ROW ontleding moet bepaal word deur 'n noukeurige ondersoek te doen van die kumulatiewe netto huidige waarde-waarskynlikheidskurwe.

This study demonstrates how discourse is used to construct popular myths. This study analyzes magazine advertisements used by businesses in overcoming the rhetorical problem posed by a public opinion that blamed them for environmental problems. This study shows how businesses used advertisements to construct a popular myth that businesses were doing their part in overcoming the environmental crisis.

Whilst the topic of leadership has been widely studied it remains little understood, particularly at the first-level line of leadership, especially as it relates to developing countries such as Kuwait. This study critically analyses and presents the needs, skills and capabilities of frontline leaders working in the Kuwait’s Oil and Gas Sector companies. It also examines how such needs and competencies can be developed so as to make these leaders more effective in leading functional units (teams) and to improve organisational performance overall. The study produces a frontline leadership needs and skills development framework that contributes to a better understanding of leadership in a Middle Eastern country (Kuwait), taking into account important contextual factors that influence leadership. Influenced by a social constructivist philosophy and based on qualitative evidence gathered from 42 Team Leaders, the essential leadership needs neglected by previous literature (and possibly lacking in Kuwait) were: business knowledge, technical skills, leadership and managerial skills, communication skills, decision-making skills and change management skills. These leadership needs reflected what the third line leaders understood and personally believed to be essential leadership dimensions for them to be effective and to competently undertake their work. These leadership needs constituted the foundation for their present and future leadership development in order to enhance their leadership capabilities. However, no single methodology was identified as a ‘one size fits all’ solution to meeting the development needs of the Team Leaders. Nevertheless, on the job-training was considered to be the most effective approach to develop these skills and capabilities. It is recommended that top management, and in particular human resources departments within the Oil and Gas Sector companies should continuously identify the needs of third-line leaders and focus on developing skills and competencies considered to be lacking and the most important by these frontline leaders, rather than offering a raft of seemingly unconnected development activities.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciano_Tadeu_Lucci_De_Biasi.pdf: 775515 bytes, checksum: dd6d434b1493df3e8d028427981188a6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-16 / The present paper studied the level of disclosure of the asset abandonment provision by analyzing the financial report of three companies in the oil and gas industry Petrobr??s, Chevron and British Petroleum. The financial reports have been prepared according to three different accounting standards: Brazilian (CPC), the international (IFRS) and North American (USGAAP). The aim of this study was to suggest a framework to increase the quality of disclosure of the items that comprise the measurement of asset retirement obligation provision to provide a decrease in information asymmetry related to the provision of abandonment of assets. The research methodology was qualitative approach with the application of descriptive research method in the form of case study. This research examined the financial statements of the years 2006-2011 of Petrobr??s, filed at the Comiss??o de Valores Imobili??rios and at the Securities and Exchange Commission Securities, of Chevron and British Petroleum, both also filed at the Securities Exchange Commission, in order to verify compliance the level of disclosure that the accounting standards IFRS, USGAAP and CPC recommend. This study verified those companies have reached the minimum level of disclosure required, but Petrobr??s (CVM) that demonstrated the reconciliation of the allowance for asset retirement only for 2010 fiscal year. On the other hand British Petroleum was the only one to provide details such as discount rate, expected cash outflow for the abandonment of the asset and the period of the economic cycle of the assets. This study also concluded there are significant discrepancies in the way information regard asset retirement obligation is disclosed among those financial reports. Thus, the structure of disclosure suggested in this work can be useful to standardize the disclosure of the information regard asset retirement obligation with the possibility of improving the quality of the accounting information and by reducing information asymmetry / O presente trabalho estudou o n??vel de evidencia????o da provis??o de abandono de ativo de tr??s empresas do setor de petr??leo e g??s, Petrobr??s, Chevron e British Petroleum, elaboradas com base em tr??s padr??es cont??beis diferentes, o brasileiro (CPC), o internacional (IFRS) e o norte americano (USGAAP). O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi o de sugerir uma estrutura de evidencia????o com o intuito de incrementar a qualidade da divulga????o dos itens que comp??em a mensura????o dessa provis??o para proporcionar uma redu????o na assimetria da informa????o referente ?? provis??o de abandono de ativo. A metodologia de pesquisa utilizada foi a abordagem qualitativa com a aplica????o de m??todo de pesquisa descritiva na forma de estudo de caso. Essa pesquisa analisou as demonstra????es financeiras entre os anos de 2006 a 2011 da Petrobr??s, apresentadas na Comiss??o de Valores Mobili??rios e na Securities Exchange Commission, da Chevron e da British Petroleum, ambas tamb??m apresentadas na Securities Exchange Commission, com o intuito de verificar a ader??ncia do n??vel de evidencia????o perante os padr??es cont??beis IFRS, USGAAP e CPC. O estudo verificou que as empresas atingiram o n??vel m??nimo da evidencia????o exigido, exceto a Petrobr??s (CVM), que demonstrou a concilia????o da conta de provis??o para abandono de ativos somente a partir de 2010. J?? a British Petroleum foi a ??nica a apresentar detalhes como taxa de desconto utilizada, e sa??da de caixa esperada para o abandono dos ativos e o prazo do ciclo econ??mico dos ativos. Esse estudo concluiu tamb??m que h?? importantes discrep??ncias na forma de apresenta????o. Logo, a estrutura de evidencia????o sugerida nesse trabalho pode ser ??til para padronizar a forma de apresenta????o dessas informa????es com a possibilidade de melhoria na qualidade da informa????o cont??bil e da redu????o da assimetria da informa????o

by Yuen Wing-wah, Ricky, Fung Wai-hung, Eugene. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaf 64. / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vii / PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.viii / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT --- p.3 / Air Pollution Control Ordinance --- p.3 / Air Control Zones --- p.3 / Fuel Oil Consumption in Hong Kong --- p.6 / Chapter III. --- CURRENT FUEL OIL MARKET --- p.11 / Types of Oil Fuel --- p.11 / Market Share of Oil Fuel --- p.12 / Chapter IV. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.15 / Purpose of the Study --- p.15 / Need for the Study --- p.15 / Target Respondent --- p.16 / Population and Sampling --- p.16 / Data Collection Method --- p.18 / Chapter V. --- ANALYSIS OF DATA --- p.19 / Demographic Charactertistics --- p.19 / Position --- p.19 / Geographical Distribution --- p.19 / Industry --- p.20 / Users' Views of Market --- p.22 / Usage of Supplier --- p.22 / Types of Supplier --- p.24 / Users' Evaluation of Supplier --- p.26 / Attitude to Existing Government Regulation --- p.30 / Concern Over the Government Regulation --- p.32 / Understanding of Different Oil Fuels --- p.34 / Knowledge of Sulphur Content --- p.37 / Expenditure on Oil Fuel --- p.39 / Chapter VI. --- POTENTIAL OF NEW MARKET --- p.41 / Willingness to Switch Product --- p.41 / Reactions to New Fuel Oil Concept --- p.45 / Chapter VII. --- SUMMARY --- p.48 / Chapter VIII. --- CONCLUSION --- p.50 / APPENDIX --- p.51 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.64

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the maintenance management system (MMS) on production output and profitability (PO&P) at the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) GTL Refinery as a source of competitive advantage. State-Owned Companies and, or more specifically the PetroSA GTL Refinery must maintain its strategic importance for government fuel security but, at the same time, it must compete against private refineries in terms of achieving high production volumes, maximising profitability and to maintain its stake of 6.5% of the available production capacity. The literature review for this study suggested that the maintenance management system (MMS) impacts positively on production output and profitability (PO&P). The MMS has a tremendous influence on PO&P at the PetroSA GTL Refinery. Using a quantitative research design, cross-sectional research survey and the Maintenance Scorecards (MS) assessment tool, this study was conducted on six areas of the PetroSA GTL Refinery. Two population groups, namely production and maintenance groups participated in the survey. Fifty-six respondents belonged to the maintenance group and thirty-eight respondents belonged to the Production Group. All the Maintenance and Production Group respondents completed the MS questions designed to fit the characteristics of these population groups. Correlation analysis in terms of the means, standard deviations, gap analysis, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (r) as well as the coefficient of determination (R²) was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicated a moderate positive linear correlation between the MMS and PO&P. Recommendations based on the findings were tabled in chapter 7 to improve and enhance production perspective (asset health gap), safety perspective (asset prioritisation gap) and the learning and growth perspective (skills and working condition gap). / Business Management / M. Com. ((Business Management)

This dissertation analyses the history of the politics of pollution and petroleum refining in South Africa during the first decade of Apartheid, focusing on the country's first two oil refineries, both of which were built by multinational oil companies in Durban in the 1950s and 60s. It traces the origins of the development of environmental regulation in relation to oil refinery pollution. The dissertation outlines the development of a sense of disillusionment caused by the persistence of pollution problems associated with petroleum refining in the face of failed attempts at technological and expert interventions. The study identifies the existence of a civic culture amongst Bluff residents founded on ratepayer and landowner identities, through which they were able to exercise considerable purchase on the local State. Ultimately, the story of how two petroleum refineries ended up in the midst of residential communities in south Durban's represents a reiteration of the importance of race to the development of local urban landscapes during Apartheid. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004

The economic and strategic importance of oil made the issues related to energy security and access to oil reserves gain relevance from the 1990s on. It was within this context that the World Petroleum Industry, considered a paradigm of modern industrial organization of the 20th Century, restructured and experienced financial, technological and organizational innovations. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of such innovations on competitiveness, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, and oil production and trade. Thus, performance indicators (Revealed Comparative Advantage, Market Share and Intra-Industry Trade) were built and analyzed along with FDI inflows. This analysis showed that the consolidation of competitive advantages in this industry strengthened its main features regarding industrial concentration, internationalization, vertical integration, and meaningful participation of state-owned enterprises. / A importância econômica e estratégica do petróleo fez com que as questões relacionadas à segurança energética e ao acesso as reservas ganhassem mais importância a partir dos anos 1990. É neste contexto que a Indústria Mundial do Petróleo, considerada um paradigma da moderna organização industrial do século XX, se reestrutura e experimenta inovações de cunho financeiro, tecnológico e organizacionais. O objetivo principal desse trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de tais inovações sobre a competitividade, os fluxos de investimentos diretos externos (IDE), a produção e os fluxos comerciais de petróleo. Para tanto, foram construídos indicadores de desempenho (Vantagem Comparativa Revelada, de Market Share e de Comércio Intraindustrial) que foram analisados juntamente com os fluxos de IDE. Por meio dessa análise verificou-se que a consolidação de vantagens competitivas nessa indústria reforçaram suas características principais no que tange à concentração industrial, internacionalização, integração vertical e participação significativa de empresas estatais. / Doutor em Economia