Suchergebnisse

Is shale oil "revolutionizing" the global oil market and the geopolitics of oil? If so, how? While two aspects of the shale boom—a new source of supply and a cause for the price collapse in 2014–2015—dominate the conventional wisdom, I argue that the most revolutionary change is the least understood aspect of shale oil—shale oil producers' rise as new swing suppliers due to its unique extraction technique and cost structure. Shale oil producers also differ from traditional swing producers in motives, contexts, and an amount of accessible excess capacity such that while shale oil lowers the medium-term price ceiling, it does not eliminate short-term price volatility. By examining the geopolitics of oil since the advent of shale oil, I analyze how such new market realities have or have not altered the US foreign policy on issues involving possible oil supply disruptions, Saudi Arabia's long-held special status in US grand strategy, rationale for US withdrawal from the Persian Gulf, and the foreign policy of China, the largest oil importer today, and Russia, a major petrostate.

Despite ongoing efforts to find alternatives, oil is still one of the most critical-and valuable-commodities on earth. This two-volume set provides extensive background information on key topics relating to oil, profiles countries that are major producers and consumers of oil, and examines relevant political issues

In 1991, the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) commenced the first Chinese national oil company equity oil investment overseas when it invested in a UN-sponsored oil sands project in Canada. Since then, the CNPC and the other Chinese national oil companies (Sinopec and the CNOOC) have steadily increased their equity oil investments in developing nations, sometimes with the assistance of various Chinese party and government organs. Viewed in the context of China's burgeoning oil consumption and plateauing oil production, these investments have led to accusations by Western analysts and policy makers that China is engaging in "mercantilism" by "locking up" oil supplies from vulnerable developing nations to assuage their mounting energy-security woes. Through examining Chinese oil engagement in Kazakhstan, this paper will analyze whether accusations of "mercantilism" can adequately capture the complexities and dynamics that drive Chinese oil company investment in developing nations. This will be achieved by first surveying contemporary debates regarding Chinese oil engagement abroad and then linking these debates to historical and contemporary conceptualizations of mercantilism. This will allow for a new multi-faceted definition of "oil mercantilist" behaviour, which will shift the label from a statement of ethical value to a statement of empirical fact that can be tested. This definition will then be used to examine the institutional contexts in China that support and counter contemporary accusations of oil mercantilism, and then to explore Chinese oil engagement in Kazakhstan from 1996 to the present day. This paper will contribute to emerging literature that suggests Chinese oil investment and diplomacy cannot be simply understood through mercantilist perspectives. Analyses of Chinese oil engagement need to recognize the important influence that China's institutional reforms have had on Chinese national oil companies' increasingly commercial approach to foreign investment, in addition to the unique host-country contexts China encounters through its oil investments.

It protects wealthy autocrats, poisons the environment, & fuels international conflicts. Yet it won't be the false threat of scarcity or the rise of an Asian energy axis that convinces the world to finally kick the oil habit. An auto revolution courtesy of Silicon Valley & Shanghai may deliver an end to the defining addiction of our age. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of the article is to study the market of oil and oil products in Ukraine, its role in the functioning of agriculture and identify ways to improve. Research methods. Methods used: system analysis and generalization (to study and generalize the energy dependence of Ukraine); statistical (to display the situation on the oil and oil products market in quantitative terms through a system of absolute and relative indicators); analysis of the series of dynamics, structural shifts (to analyze and identify trends in the indicators of the oil and oil products market); comparison (comparison of economic indicators); graphic (visual display of research results in the form of graphs). Research results. The essence and features of the Ukrainian market are revealed, a statistical analysis of trends in the development of the oil and oil products market is carried out, factors influencing the trend of the domestic market are identified and the mechanism of their interaction is clarified. The assessment of the current level of oil independence of Ukraine is carried out. Scientific novelty. The necessity of state support in terms of restoring the competitiveness of the domestic oil refining industry, diversifying the supply of petroleum products to the Ukrainian market and maintaining the share of domestically produced petroleum products at the level of 50% of the consumption volume, as well as reducing the share of other suppliers (importers) to 30% in the total balance has been substantiated. Practical significance. The analysis made it possible to identify destabilizing factors in the oil and oil products market, determine the need for systemic changes in the market functioning model and create conditions for increasing the competitiveness of domestic oil products in the Ukrainian market, create conditions for promoting and stimulating the development of the oil refining industry to weaken the reliability of imports of oil products. Tabl.: 2. Figs.: 1. Refs.: 18.

Kazakhstan became a petro-state in the 1990s, after signing important oil production agreements with several transnational companies. In recent years, Kazakhstan's government has imposed the revision of former agreements on these corporations. This article contends that said revision has allowed the national players, government and the state oil company, to extend rent-seeking, but that the changes have not been deep enough to attain national oil empowerment. This means that national players do not control the oil cycle – from upstream to export trade – and are unable to secure continued expansion in the oil sector. Both key issues remain in the hands of the foreign companies, although their prominence has diversified following the entry of large Chinese and Russian companies.

Venezuela's Oil (1978) explains the years of social injustice faced by oil-producing countries that led to the founding of OPEC. Venezuela, a founder member, is perhaps the best example of a young country claiming a just price for a non-renewable commodity. The fight for Venezuela's oil is also closely linked to Betancourt's political life, and here he examines the politics of the international oil business as regards to his own country.

Climate change represents an existential, global threat to humanity, yet its delocalized nature complicates climate action. Here, the authors propose retrofitting air conditioning units as integrated, scalable, and renewable-powered devices capable of decentralized CO(2) conversion and energy democratization.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction: A Serious Ongoing Threat -- Chapter 1: Why the World Uses So Much Oil -- Chapter 2: The Causes of Oil Spills -- Chapter 3: Environmental Impacts -- Chapter 4: Economic Impacts -- Chapter 5: Cleaning Up Oil Spills -- Chapter 6: Prevention of Oil Spills -- Notes -- Discussion Questions -- Organizations to Contact -- For More Information -- Index -- Picture Credits -- About the Author -- Back Cover