Dichotomising compulsory land acquisition and land contamination valuations

Author(s):  
Victor A. Akujuru ◽  
Les Ruddock

Purpose – This study aims at identifying the consequences of adopting statutory rather than market basis in assessing damages due to contamination to land. Most valuations undertaken to assess compensation for damages due to contamination on land are done with valuation methods prescribed by law for the compulsory acquisition of land. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 80 registered valuation firms with experience in both compulsory acquisition and damage assessment participated in a questionnaire survey to ascertain the methods adopted in valuing when determining the compensation payable as damages due to land contamination and the need for a framework for such valuations, in addition to some archival documents relating to the relevant laws and some purposively selected valuation reports, which were reviewed. Findings – The results of the analysis indicate that the use of compulsory acquisition valuation methods results in inadequate damages, which engenders conflicts among the stakeholders. The absence of any framework for damage assessment is responsible for the current practice in the Niger Delta, and it is recommended that international best practices utilising market basis of valuation be adopted. Research limitations/implications – Most valuation methods available are useful for valuing commercial properties regularly traded in the market and not applicable to the Niger Delta, which is mostly rural with very few market transactions. It is expected that this study will enable oil and gas industry operators, professional valuers advising the land owners or operators in the industry and the government to differentiate compensation paid for compulsory acquisition and compensation required to placate those suffering losses due to contamination. Practical implications – The findings will assist professional valuers to be more professional in valuing contaminated land devastated by oil spills. Social implications – Adopting the findings will engender a greater acceptability of the results of valuations undertaken in the wake of an oil spillage disaster and ensure a peaceful environment for the oil operators and the entire populace. Originality/value – The findings of this study are expected to assist policymakers in emerging economies and professional valuers acting in these environments to avoid precipitating crises by adopting inappropriate valuation techniques when assessing damages due to contamination. This study is original and has not been published elsewhere.

Subject Reform of China's energy sector. Significance The government has recently taken steps to reform China’s energy sector, diversify the number of actors and increase the role of market forces. However, the state retains a dominant position in the sector. Impacts It could still be many years before the draft Energy Law of 2020 is formally adopted into law. Measures to open up the oil and gas industry are likely to have little effect, especially at a time of low oil and gas prices. New electricity and carbon markets will not achieve their potential in terms of economic efficiency and emissions reduction for many years.


Subject Indonesia's efforts to encourage more foreign direct investment. Significance President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, recently re-elected, last week reiterated pre-poll promises to reduce corporate tax, revise labour laws and remove constraints on foreign ownership. Indonesia has a reputation for a stymieing regulatory environment and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows declined last year. Impacts Attracting investment in the upstream oil and gas industry will be a tough challenge, due to confusion over gross-split contracts. Jakarta will try to design regulations that benefit startups in the digital economy. The tourism industry will grow, as the government aims to develop ten key sites to become as popular as Bali.


2004 ◽  
pp. 51-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sharipova ◽  
I. Tcherkashin

Federal tax revenues from the main sectors of the Russian economy after the 1998 crisis are examined in the article. Authors present the structure of revenues from these sectors by main taxes for 1999-2003 and prospects for 2004. Emphasis is given to an increasing dependence of budget on revenues from oil and gas industries. The share of proceeds from these sectors has reached 1/3 of total federal revenues. To explain this fact world oil prices dynamics and changes in tax legislation in Russia are considered. Empirical results show strong dependence of budget revenues on oil prices. The analysis of changes in tax legislation in oil and gas industry shows that the government has managed to redistribute resource rent in favor of the state.


Author(s):  
Azhari Yahya ◽  
Nurdin MH

The oil and gas industry in Indonesia has been started since 1871 by Royal Dutch Shell. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry in Aceh began in 1971 which was marked by the discovery of the Arun oil and gas fields. At that time, the management of oil and gas is done centrally by not involving the Government of Aceh as a regional producer. This led to armed conflict between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement and prolonged conflict (for 32 years) ended with the approval of the joint oil and gas management pattern found in the territory of Aceh as stipulated in the MoU Helsinki on August 15 2005, Law No. 11 of 2006 concerning the Government of Aceh and Government Regulation No. 23 of 2015 concerning Joint Management of Oil and Gas in Aceh. In order to finalize joint oil and gas management in Aceh, universities, especially the Faculty of Law, need to immediately prepare human resources who are competent in the oil and gas and energy law so that they are skilled at negotiating and drafting a Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) for oil and gas or Kontrak Bagi Hasil (KBH). For this purpose, law faculties need to immediately incorporate oil and gas and energy law courses into their curriculum.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Franz

Theoretical basis This case is based on Weatherford International’s settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Both the SEC and the DOJ were critical of Weatherford for its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and for its “inadequate internal controls.” This case explores the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations and issues related to internal controls. Research methodology Case study. Case overview/synopsis This case is based on Weatherford International’s settlement with the SEC and the Department of Justice. Weatherford provided equipment and services in the oil and gas industry. Because international markets were growing faster than domestic markets, Weatherford made a strategic decision to pursue growth in international markets. The oil and gas industry has high levels of operating risk as did the countries that Weatherford decided to pursue operations in. However, despite the decision to take on additional risk, Weatherford failed to implement adequate systems of internal controls. The title of the case “A Perfect Storm” refers to Weatherford’s trifecta of operating in an industry with high levels of corruption risk, countries with high levels of corruption risk and failing to implement adequate internal controls despite those high operating risks (Department of Justice, 2013). Weatherford was ultimately assessed a $152m penalty for its violations of the FCPA that included bribery, volume discounts, improper payments and kickbacks. Complexity academic level Undergraduate and graduate auditing classes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Humphrey Otombosoba Oruwari

Abstract Nigerian oil and gas industry have over the years witnessed incessant conflicts between the stakeholders, particularly the host communities in Niger Delta region and the oil and gas companies in partnership with the Federal Government. Conflict which is here defined as manifestation of disagreement between individual and groups arising from differing and mutually incompatible interests has both positive and negative effects depending on how it was managed. Managing conflicts is all about limiting the negative aspects. The study examined conflicts management in Nigeria oil and gas industry and how best the positive elements of conflicts can be maximally exploited for the mutual benefit of both oil and gas company and the host communities in Niger Delta. The study adopted the multidisciplinary approach, literature review, case study and relied on secondary sources using analytical method of data analysis. The study findings revealed that the major factors that precipitate conflicts between the oil and gas industry and host communities in Niger Delta include economic, social, political, and ecological factors. There are available strategies that can be used in conflict management. These include avoiding, accommodating, or smoothing, competing, or forcing, compromising, and collaborating. Any of these strategies can be used to manage conflict depending on the situation, the environment factor, and the nature of the conflict. The problem is that the oil and gas companies in partnership with the Nigerian government often adopted the wrong approach in dealing with the conflict with host communities, using avoiding or forcing strategies. The study recommends collaboration strategy which ensues long term-term solution to mutual benefits.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afungchwi Ronald Ngwashi ◽  
David O. Ogbe ◽  
Dickson O. Udebhulu

Abstract Data analytics has only recently picked the interest of the oil and gas industry as it has made data visualization much simpler, faster, and cost-effective. This is driven by the promising innovative techniques in developing artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools to provide sustainable solutions to ever-increasing problems of the petroleum industry activities. Sand production is one of these real issues faced by the oil and gas industry. Understanding whether a well will produce sand or not is the foundation of every completion job in sandstone formations. The Niger Delta Province is a region characterized by friable and unconsolidated sandstones, therefore it's more prone to sanding. It is economically unattractive in this region to design sand equipment for a well that will not produce sand. This paper is aimed at developing a fast and more accurate machine-learning algorithm to predict sanding in sandstone formations. A two-layered Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with back-propagation algorithm was developed using PYTHON programming language. The algorithm uses 11 geological and reservoir parameters that are associated with the onset of sanding. These parameters include depth, overburden, pore pressure, maximum and minimum horizontal stresses, well azimuth, well inclination, Poisson's ratio, Young's Modulus, friction angle, and shale content. Data typical of the Niger Delta were collected to validate the algorithm. The data was further split into a training set (70%) and a test set (30%). Statistical analyses of the data yielded correlations between the parameters and were plotted for better visualization. The accuracy of the ANN algorithm is found to depend on the number of parameters, number of epochs, and the size of the data set. For a completion engineer, the answer to the question of whether or not a well will require sand production control is binary-either a well will produce sand or it does not. Support vector machines (SVM) are known to be better suited as the machine-learning tools for binary identification. This study also presents a comparative analysis between ANN and SVM models as tools for predicting sand production. Analysis of the Niger Delta data set indicated that SVM outperformed ANN model even when the training data set is sparse. Using the 30% test set, ANN gives an accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 - Score of about 80% while the SVM performance was 100% for the four metrics. It is then concluded that machine learning tools such as ANN with back-propagation and SVM are simple, accurate, and easy-to-use tools for effectively predicting sand production.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sani Damamisau Mohammed

Purpose Carbon emissions from gas flaring in the Nigerian oil and gas industry are both a national and international problem. Nigerian government policies to eliminate the problem 1960-2016 yielded little or no results. The Kyoto Protocol (KP) provides Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as an international market-based mechanism to reducing global carbon emissions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analytically highlight the potentials of CDM in eliminating carbon emissions in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviewed the historical background of Kyoto protocol, Nigerian Government policies to eliminating gas flaring in its oil and gas industry 1960-2016 and CDM projects in the industry. The effectiveness of the policies and CDM projects towards ending this problem were descriptively analysed. Findings Government policies towards eliminating gas flaring with its attendant carbon emissions appeared not to be yielding the desired results. However, projects registered under CDM in the industry looks effective in ending the problem. Research limitations/implications Therefore, the success recorded by CDM projects has the policy implication of encouraging Nigeria to engage on establishing more CDM projects that ostensibly proved effective in reducing CO2 emissions through gas flaring reductions in its oil and gas industry. Apparent effectiveness of studied CDM should provide a way forward for the country in eliminating gas flaring in its oil and gas industry which is also a global menace. Nigeria could achieve this by providing all needed facilitation to realising more CDM investments. Practical implications CDM as a policy has proved effective in eliminating gas flaring in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The government should adopt this international policy to achieve more gas flaring reductions. Social implications Social problems of respiratory diseases, water pollution and food shortage among others due to gas flaring are persisting in oil and gas producing areas as government policies failed to end the problem. CDM projects in the industry have proved effective in eliminating the problem, thus improving the social welfare of the people and ensuring sustainable development. Originality/value The paper analysed the effectiveness of Nigerian Government policies and an international market-based mechanism towards ending gas flaring in its oil and gas industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 21-23

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how female expatriates mobilize couples’ dual-career coordination strategic choices to achieve their own and their partners’ desired career goals. Design/methodology/approach The researcher initially contacted 45 expatriate women in heterosexual relationships by email. More detailed interviews were done verbally with 20 of the women. The participants were asked to explain what actions they had taken, and also the effectiveness of any employer support, to maintain two successful careers Findings The women working were often angry and disappointed with their organizations’ lack of support for their dual career strategies. They adopted strategies of their own to further mutual careers while keeping relationships on track. One is to work with their organizations to secure favorable employment conditions that minimize periods of separation and, if possible, facilitate suitable employment for their partners. A second strategy is to develop personal tactics of cooperation and coordination Originality/value The results are a demonstration to the oil and gas industry that they need to do more to support dual career couples, or they will lose out on a lot of talent.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 3261-3287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hani Arbabi ◽  
Mohammad-Javad Salehi-Taleshi ◽  
Kian Ghods

PurposeKnowledge management (KM) is regarded as an essential factor in project-based organizations (PBOs), leading to organizational learning across projects. Over recent years, most PBOs have inserted project management offices (PMOs) into their hierarchical charts to manage their projects much more coherently. These offices can correspondingly provide KM facilities in PBOs. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between PMO functions and KM infrastructure, as KM enablers in organizations, in Iranian oil and gas upstream PBOs.Design/methodology/approachA two-phase quantitative survey strategy was exercised in this research. The first phase was to investigate the relationship between PMOs and KM infrastructure and to prioritize PMO functions and KM infrastructure based on their existing implementation/establishment status in Iranian oil and gas upstream PBOs. The research participants, identified through the website of the National Iran Oil Company (NIOC), were comprised of 46 oil and gas upstream PBOs which applied for exploration and production (E&P) certificate in Iran in 2016 and 2017. Accordingly, a total number of 46 questionnaires were submitted to the aforementioned companies with a return rate of 41 cases. The second phase was fulfilled questioning 19 Iranian oil and gas industry experts to determine the one-to-one effect of PMO functions on KM infrastructure and to verify the first-phase results.FindingsThe results indicated a strong relationship between PMO functions and KM infrastructure. This relationship was significant with regard to “practice management” and “technical support”, having the most considerable connections with KM infrastructure. According to the first-phase results, the main functions of PMOs in Iranian oil and gas industry were “practice management” and “technical support”. Considering KM infrastructure, “structure” showed the lowest mean value while “culture”, “human resources” and “processes and procedures” obtained the highest scores. The results also demonstrated that PMO functions could lead to more improvements in “processes and procedures”, as a sub-component of KM infrastructure, compared with other sub-components. Furthermore, the oil and gas industry experts believed that “organizational culture” in KM could be shaped by most of PMO functions.Originality/valueThis study fulfilled the need for exploring the relationship between PMO functions and KM since academic literature lacked a thorough investigation, to the best of authors' knowledge, pertaining to the effects of PMO functions on KM development in oil and gas PBOs.


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