Prorationing is sometimes implemented when the producing capacity of an area exceeds the demand for that output at a price which many producers feel to be "fair" -when this situation occurs the price of course comes under pressure as producers compete with one another to sell their oil. It is in order to avoid such a possibility that operators are sometimes successful in persuading the government having jurisdiction to assume the responsibility of setting up and policing a prorationing plan. Under such a scheme the total demand for crude oil from the area, at the desired price, is alloted among all the producers of the area on a basis related to some measure of each producer's capacity - no producer has any Incentive to lower his price as he would not be awarded any larger share of the market for so doing. In simple words then the name of the game Is price fixing. Since December 1950 such a scheme for "prorationing production to market demand" has been in force in the province of Alberta and is administered by a board created by the provincial government. This practice of prorationing has had a great influence on the manner in which the Canadian oil industry has developed, not only in the province of Alberta (which is by far the largest producer of crude) but in the other oil producing provinces as well (these being mainly B.C., Sask., and Man.). It has in fact encouraged large amounts of excess expenditure to take place in the development of Canada's crude oil resource. Prorationing has encouraged this over expenditure in two ways - first through the maintenance of an artifically high price for crude oil which has encouraged the development of high cost sources at the expense of already existing low cost ones that must as a result suffer "shut-in" capacity, and secondly as a consequence of the regulations governing the method by which the demand is apportioned which has led to the over drilling of oil fields. A third cause of over expenditure have been field regulations outside of the prorationing plan such as provincial legislation dealing with minimum allowed well spacing, the manner in which maximum allowable rates of production for wells have been calculated, and the manner in which lease rights are allowed to be held. Our estimate is that poor field regulations, both inside and outside of prorationing, have led to excess expenditures of some $730 million in the period 1947 to 1965 inclusive. Over expenditure due to prorationing itself has amounted to some $1,000 million. Extensive amendments to the prorationing regulations in 1964 improved these markedly and largely removed them as a source of future waste. Prorationing itself however and the regulations governing the holding of leases remain, and so long as they do serious over expenditures will continue to be made. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis is concerned with one aspect of government management regimes for offshore oil and gas - the allocation of rights over these resources. The method by which rights may be acquired, the scope of the rights, and the terms and conditions upon which they are obtained are matters of great significance in determining the overall effectiveness of a management regime. Four coastal nations have been chosen for study. They are the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada and Australia. The systems adopted by these countries for allocation of offshore oil and gas rights are similar in that they rely mainly upon private enterprise for the development of the resources, but otherwise there are considerable differences. In the first place, the thesis contains a brief statement of the nature and extent of the rights of coastal nations over offshore oil and gas resources at international law. This is to provide the basic framework within which the management regimes of the four countries must operate. Secondly, there is a detailed description of the allocation systems in each of the four countries, with special attention being given to the historical background of the laws which establish the systems, to the provisions of those laws, and to the practical operation of the systems. Finally, there is a comparative assessment of the systems in terms of specific objectives which should form the basis of a government management regime for offshore oil and gas. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

The level of organic maturation, thermal history and petroleum source potential of Phanerozoic strata in northern Yukon and northwestern District of Mackenzie have been investigated by measurement of vitrinite (% Rorand) and graptolite (% Romax) reflectance, conodont alteration index (CAI) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. The strata in general have lower maturity levels in southern Mackenzie Delta, Peel Plateau and Eagle Plain than in the Richardson and Ogilvie Mountains. The level of maturation varies from graptolite reflectance values of 4.0% to 6.5% Romax and CAI values of 3.5 to 5 in Upper Cambrian to Lower Devonian strata whereas vitrinite reflectance ranging from 0.2% to 3.75% Rorand occur in Middle Devonian to Upper Cretaceous strata. Time-averaged numerical modelling of measured maturation gradients (0.10 to 0.32 log Rorand/km) suggest paleogeothermal gradients on the order of 20 to 45°C/km in southern Mackenzie Delta and Peel Plateau, from 10 to 20°C/km in central Eagle Plain and from 20 to 45°C/km adjacent the Richardson and Ogilvie Mountains. The higher maturity levels in mountainous areas reflect higher maturation gradients and, in the Richardson Mountains, deeper burial due to rapid subsidence caused by the foundering of grabens within the Richardson Fault Array. Anomalously high maturation values (0.92% to 1.60% Rorand) measured in Lower Cretaceous strata on the Campbell Uplift are interpreted to reflect high paleoheat flow associated with basement uplift. Average TOC contents are generally low to moderate (0.1 to 2.0%) but organic-rich intervals occur throughout the studied succession. TOC values up to 14.5% are present in the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Plain Group, values up to 9.5% occur in the Middle Devonian Canol Formation and Upper Cambrian to Lower Devonian Road River Group and values up to 5.0% are present in the Lower Cretaceous map unit Kwr and Mount Goodenough Formation, the Lower Cretaceous and Jurassic Husky Formation, the Jurassic Porcupine River Formation and the Upper Carboniferous Blackie and Hart River Formations and the Ford Lake Shale. The organic matter (OM) is dominantly type III except for minor amounts of type I and II in Lower Paleozoic strata and a mixture of type II and III in parts of Middle Devonian, Carboniferous, Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous strata. The quality of organic matter varies significantly (QOM; 0.01 to 6.1 mg HC/g Corg) as a result of variation in organic maturity, the type of OM and, in some cases, migration. Average QOM values are generally low to moderate (0.01 to 1.5 mg HC/g Corg) and, along with low to moderate Hydrogen Index values (<300 mg HC/g Corg), suggest poor to moderate petroleum source potential. Relatively few examples of potential oil prone source rocks occur, but these include parts of the Road River Group, the Hare Indian, Canol, Hart River, Blackie, Mount Goodenough and Arctic Red River Formations, the Ford Lake Shale, unnamed Carboniferous unit and map unit Kwr. Gas prone source rocks comprise parts of the Blackie, Porcupine River, Husky, Mount Goodenough and Arctic Red River Formations and the Bug Creek and Eagle Plain Groups and map unit Kwr. With respect to petroleum generation, Upper Cretaceous strata are generally immature. Lower Cretaceous to Permian strata are immature to mature, Carboniferous strata are immature to overmature, and Devonian and older rocks are mature to overmature. The timing of hydrocarbon generation from source rocks in the study area varied substantially both laterally and stratigraphically as a result of variations in the timing and magnitude of the maximum depths of burial. The variation in source rock quality appears to closely reflect the interpreted depositional environment of some of the strata which facilitates the interpretation of regional extent of. potential hydrocarbon source rocks. A correlation of graptolite and vitrinite reflectance, calibrated by conodonts, shows that a graptolite reflectance range of 5% to 6.5% Romax (CAI = 5) corresponds to a vitrinite reflectance of 4.0% Romax. Graptolite organic remains appear to behave similar to bitumen with increasing depth of burial; at higher levels of thermal maturity, graptolite reflectance increases more rapidly than vitrinite reflectance. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

In the petroleum industry, accurate estimates of hydrocarbon reserve and its producibility are without a doubt among the most important issues. Quantitative estimates require the knowledge of three basic parameters of the rock formation: the porosity &phis;, the water saturation S w and the permeability k. Electrical conductivity is one of the most commonly made measurements used to deduce these quantities. Some empirical relationships used to make such estimates are quite well established and understood, however, many still lack a sound scientific foundation. Systematic laboratory investigation and theoretical understanding of the underlying petrophysics are much needed. This dissertation consists of three projects aimed at understanding both the surface conductivity observed in shaly sandstone, and the related phenomena of molecular adsorption on heterogeneous surfaces. In the first project, we carried out nitrogen adsorption experiments on three shale samples whose fractal dimensions had been previously characterized by small angle scattering (SANS). We found that analyzing the adsorption isotherm data according to the available theoretical predictions always resulted in D values that are lower than those obtained by SANS. The second project, a numerical simulation of adsorption on fractal surfaces, was designed to understand the origin of discrepancies revealed in the first project. We found that the interplay between van der Waals adsorption and capillary condensation always leads to a crossover between the two theoretical limits. The simulated isotherms exhibit the same general features we observed in our experimental data. The third project was aimed at understanding the surface conduction in porous media. We isolated the surface conductivity by growing water layers on the surface with water adsorption isotherm technique. Some of our results indicate that AC impedance measurement could let us determine the surface conductivity and separate it from that of the bulk, thereby more accurate estimates of oil saturation can be achieved in using the empirical Archie's relation. Our studies shed more light on the various aspects of the surface ionic conduction, including Debye - Hückle length, CPA phenomenon, and effects of saturation, cation species, temperature, and substrate.

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Includes bibliographical references / Controversy surrounds the upstream petroleum industry. Although the benefit of petroleum resources is beyond dispute, the exploitation of petroleum resources comes at a price, as history has shown time and again. Not only does petroleum exploitation have detrimental effects on the environment, but host countries often are worse off than countries with little or no petroleum resources. This "resource curse" is partially the result of flawed regulatory frameworks for petroleum resource extraction in host countries. This thesis identifies three elements that must be present in a country's regulatory framework for petroleum extraction if the resource curse phenomenon is to be avoided and benefit s from petroleum are to be maximised. These elements are: transparency, accountability and a balance of interests between the petroleum companies and the host nation. Namibia and South Africa are not yet major players in the international upstream petroleum industry. There is accordingly not much academic engagement with petroleum law in these two jurisdictions. The courts have also not yet had the opportunity to scrutinise the legislation regulating the upstream petroleum industries of South Africa and Namibia. There are, however, indications that both countries may possess viable quantities of petroleum resources. In anticipation of the possibility of finding commercially viable quantities of petroleum, South Africa and Namibia have enacted legislation to regulate the upstream petroleum industry, but the efficiency of the legislation, specifically how it reflects the elements of transparency, accountability and balance of interest, have not yet been considered. The research for this thesis is driven by the question of how the regulatory framework for petroleum exploitation in South Africa and Namibia embraces the elements of transparency, accountability and balance of interest. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the regulatory frameworks for upstream petroleum resources in South Africa and Namibia in anticipation of the demands that will be placed on law as the sectors grow. In doing so, this thesis scrutinises the legislation in South Africa and Namibia to determine the extent to which the three crucial elements of transparency, accountability and balance of interest between the petroleum company and the host nation are reflected in the regulatory frameworks for petroleum resources.

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In March 1994, a report was issued to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management after Jim Allen Maintenance, Inc. found levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) exceeding the level appropriate for action (100 parts per million) during an underground storage tank closure report assessment. Creek Run L.L.C Environmental Engineering was contracted by Jay Petroleum to complete an initial site characterization. Through quarterly monitoring of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and methyl tert-butyl ether for 11 years, Creek Run L.L.C determined that biodegradation was occurring. Upon using BIOSCREEN, a contaminant transport modeling software that simulates natural attenuation over time, it was determined that the retardation factor was 1.4, and the biodegradation rate constant was 4.6 per year. This indicates that the contaminant migration is slow in comparison to groundwater flow, and the rate of biodegradation is at an appropriate value to allow natural attenuation to occur on its own.

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