Prospects for Oil and Gas Development in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast

This paper examines the oil and gas industry of Sakhalin Oblast and its offshore areas, as well as the status of major investment projects. Sakhalin is the site of two of Russia's largest oil development projects with Western companies, both envisaged as major multibillion-dollar ventures. Both projects are described in detail, and remain contingent upon enactment in Russia's parliament of key pieces of oil legislation, most importantly a law on production sharing. The paper argues that even if such changes in Russia's legal and fiscal environment are forthcoming, the profitability of these projects remains uncertain, with actual development far from assured. 1 map, 2 tables, 11 references.     

新时期组团城市中区域性公共服务设施配置新视角--以佛山高明区为例

传统上,公共服务设施往往按照城市用地结构的等级序列自上而下集中配置。新时期,公共服务设施的准公共物品化、多元化的城市化发展模式、范围经济的出现以及信息网络和快速交通技术的发展动摇了配置公共服务设施的传统理论基础,使区域性公共服务设施可以摆脱中心城市而分散配置于其他周边地区。论文以佛山高明区为例,具体探讨了如何自下而上将区域性公共服务设施配置于次级组团城市的方法。     

火车客运站综合流通空间规划探索——以广州市铁路新客站地区规划为例

本文简要回顾了火车客运站地区规划研究的发展。提出火车客运站具有增长极的性质,各种经济流通空间集聚在火车客运站周边,形成了综合流通空间。分析了综合流通空间的内涵与特点。指出综合流通空间由核心功能区、衍生功能区、外围功能区三个层次构成,分析了各个层次的功能构成、服务设施与布局模型。对综合流通空间与其他城市功能空间的关系进行了探讨。以广州铁路新客站地区规划为例,从集聚作用、功能结构与布局、与其他城市功能区的联系三方面对综合流通空间进行了实证分析。     

Geomorphic Methods in Oil and Gas Prospecting

The structural-geomorphic technique advocated for use in oil and gas prospecting is based on the influence of geologic structure on the development and appearance of surface relief. Structural-geomorphic analysis is most effective in areas where inherited surface forms predominate; it is more difficult to apply in areas with a young, dynamic surface relief. The morphometric school in structural analysis focuses on map measurements of drainage patterns, valley asymmetry, stream orders and slopes. The genetic school emphasizes study of the origin and age of surface forms. Another geomorphic method in oil and gas prospecting is the paleogeomorphic technique, based on the prediction of the occurrence of hydrocarbons in stratigraphic and lithologic traps associated with the regional pinch-out of permeable rocks. Structural-geomorphic maps showing types of surface relief and their relationship to geological structure are an important aid in oil and gas prospecting.     

An Analysis of Factors Determining the Level of Natural-Gas Extraction in the North of Tyumen' Oblast

The absence of a long-term program of development of the Tyumen' gas fields is noted, and more intensive development is urged on the following grounds: the availability of large predicted reserves and the relatively low cost of proving these reserves compared with the cost of geological exploration in the deeper gas fields of European Russia; the need for gas as a fuel and chemical raw material in the Siberian economy; prospects of reducing steel-pipe, labor and investment requirements for development of the gas industry as a result of automation and technical progress. An annual output level of one trillion cubic meters a year is urged. The required investment is estimated at 50 billion, rubles. In view of predicted higher gas prices (15 to 20 rubles per 1000 cubic meters) and low operating costs (3.4 rubles), the annual return on investment at a trillion-cubic-meter production level would be about 13 billion rubles.     

Determining suitable investment areas using multi‐variable statistical methods: evidence from the Black Sea region in Turkey

Investment is an important decision for economic development, balanced growth and public welfare. There are many factors influencing investment. Thus, investment must be evaluated with multidimensional methods. Using taxonomy and principal component analysis this study attempts to determine appropriate investment areas in planned provinces in the Black Sea Region. Analyses were based on a number of demographic, economic, health, education, employment and cultural indicators. Results indicated that provinces were grouped into four clusters. Gümü?hane and Bayburt were determined to have the highest priority for investment in the manufacturing industry.     

THE NATURE OF THE MANPOWER PROBLEM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIBERIA

The traditional picture of the economic development in Siberia presents a formidable obstacle in the form of a manpower deficit and high labor turnover. The official policy to combat this problem has been to give priority to the development of social and cultural amenities. Substantial changes in wage differentials and other economic and non-economic benefits seem to be a measure of the past. This article presents an overview of the situation and suggests that if any public policy is to be effective, it has to combine accelerated development in the social and cultural spheres and economic and noneconomic benefits as well. Furthermore, these measures have to be more differentiated regionally and among worker categories. Any such policy would require massive investment. The question is whether Soviet society can bear this huge burden in view of more immediate needs. Another question is whether the additional investment required would be compensated by a comparable increase in the productivity of labor. In view of substantial cost increases, capital productivity is likely to decline if not compensated by a change in the calculated prices on Siberian products, especially oil and gas, which seems doubtful in view of the present international situation.     

The Gulf Cooperation Council states: Crystallization of the regional cooperation and alliances amid dwindling resources

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states can be divided into two main camps in terms of hydrocarbon endowment per capita which can partially account for differences in policy directions. Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE (the rich triplet) have small populations while having large hydrocarbon (oil and natural gas) endowments compared to Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE have been effectively using their excess wealth in the form of investment for domestic economic diversification and overseas investments through their sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Therefore, the rich triplet perceives the upcoming threat of decarbonization of the world's energy system lighter than the remaining members of the GCC in view of their prosperity. The expected decrease in oil demand and revenue within the next decade will put further strain on the relationship between these states.     

油气地缘经济与中国油气安全

本文从地缘政治观念向地缘经济观念发展的观点出发,通过对全球油气中心随时空转移和变化的分析,着重阐述了冷战以后全球形成的"石油心脏地带"和"内需求月形地带"及"外需求月形地块"的油气地缘经济格局以及有关国家围绕争夺中亚油气资源和跨国运输通道构成的内外两个三角之间的油气地缘战略竞赛,在此基础上讨论了中国油气安全所面临的处境与应采取的对策。     

The Development of “Sports-City” Zones and Their Potential Value as Tourism Resources for Urban Areas

In recent years, several cities have constructed new sports facilities in concentrated areas or supplemented existing facilities to create a themed sport zone. Some have branded these areas as “sports cities” to give them visibility and coherence. This research assesses the rationale for these projects, in particular, their potential value as new tourist areas for cities. Although the relationship between sport and cities is an established part of urban studies, there is currently little research that explicitly addresses this new phenomenon of themed areas of cities dedicated to sport. To address the lack of previous work, existing literature on comparable manifestations of themed urban areas is used as a conceptual basis for the paper. A comparative analysis is then conducted of four specific schemes: “SportCity”, Manchester (UK); “The International Sports Village”, Cardiff (UK); “The Aspire Zone”, Doha (Qatar) and “Dubai Sports City” (UAE). These different sports-city zones are compared and evaluated with reference to issues raised in the literature. The paper concludes that, to be successful, sports-city zones need to be planned as such, and not merely employed as convenient brands for existing events facilities.     

广州市中心城区休闲服务设施区位类型特征的研究

以广州市中心城区为研究地域,以城市常住人口密度作为地域划分标准,引入基尼系数、带间差异系数、带别特化系数对广州市中心城区的休闲服务设施的区位类型进行划分,区分出城区均匀分布、弱城心均匀分布、城区核心集聚和城区局部集聚四类休闲服务设施的区位类型,进而对广州市中心城区的休闲服务设施的分布和微区位特征有一个初步的解读。     

基于旅游产品差异化的欠发达地区旅游合作研究

区域旅游合作可打破地域壁垒,合理配置和利用旅游资源,以丰富合理的旅游产品供给满足旅游市场多样化需求,获得合作区域旅游发展的双赢。欠发达地区在生产要素如资金、设施、信息、人才、市场、营销和交通区位条件等方面具有前天不足,在旅游产品差异化视角下进行区域旅游合作,建立基于价值网的区域旅游合作竞争关系,建构旅游合作系统,实施旅游合作并进行合作绩效评价,提高欠发达地区旅游产业竞争优势。     

Regional Peculiarities in the Formation of Industrial Nodes in the Middle Ob' Region

Limiting environmental conditions in the construction of industrial nodes in the new oil district of the Middle Ob' are the rigorous climate, extensive swamp cover and absence of ground transportation. These adverse factors are compensated to some extent by the shallow depth of oil deposits, favorable geology and the availability of groundwater that can be injected to maintain oil-reservoir pressures. The basic problems in the development of the oil district are the shortage of housing, services and local foodproducts and consumer goods as well as the high cost of construction of transport routes. Greater investment in services is urged to help reduce the high turnover of labor as migrants are reluctant to settle permanently in the region.     

Coupling national geo-political economic strategies and the Belt and Road Initiative: The China-Belarus Great Stone Industrial Park

The joint development by Belarus and China of the Great Stone Industrial Park (GSIP) is designed to establish a high-tech industrial zone and an eco-friendly satellite city of Minsk as a key node on the Eurasian Land Bridge linking China with the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union. The development and organization of the GSIP are explained in the light of a coupling of the strategic goals of the two countries in the context of a new Chinese model of external engagement called an emergent geo-political economic culture. These goals include Belarus' desire to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and oil, upgrade and diversify its economy, strengthen its integration with Eurasia and find new partners, by attracting Chinese and other foreign direct investment in the context of China's Going Out and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). An analysis of the roles of national leaders Aliaksandr Lukashenka and Xi Jinping and of different stakeholders in the predominantly top-down design, development and governance of the park reveals the way in which a BRI cooperation platform permits the coupling of Chinese and Belarusian interests and strategies in ways through which each side expects to benefit.     

Locational disadvantage and the spatial distribution of government expenditure on urban infrastructure and services in metropolitan Sydney (1988–2015)

Provision of public services by state governments rather than municipalities is considered an important urban governance factor preventing deeper levels of socio‐spatial inequality in Australian cities. The paper examines the spatial patterns of investment by the New South Wales state government in a wide range of services and infrastructure in metropolitan Sydney over 28 budget years from 1988/89 to 2015/16. We examined the relationship between volume and type of investment in infrastructure and services, and considered a local area's socioeconomic characteristics, distance from the central business district, and designation as a strategic site in metropolitan plans. Despite an overall redistributive approach favouring relatively disadvantaged areas, the most disadvantaged suburbs in metropolitan Sydney had significantly lower levels of investment. When funding was directed to the most disadvantaged suburbs, it was often in the form of new social housing development, reinforcing both the concentration of poverty and disadvantage in resource access. The findings suggest that this is a case of under‐investment by the state government in areas already populated by disadvantaged communities rather than a market‐driven process whereby disadvantaged households move into poorly resourced neighbourhoods.     

Generation and accumulation of oil and condensates in the Wenchang A Sag, western Pearl River Mouth Basin, South China Sea

The Pearl River Mouth (PRM) Basin is one of four Cenozoic basins in the South China Sea, and the Wenchang A Sag is a secondary depression in the western part of the basin. Both the Wenchang and Enping formations contain good source rocks in the western PRM Basin; however, only the latter has been considered a likely source of the discovered oil and gas. New data from fluid inclusions and the analysis of oil–source rock correlations for the WC10-3 oil and gas pools indicate two stages of petroleum charging, the earlier originating from the Wenchang Formation and the later from the Enping Formation. Kinetics of petroleum generation and structural evolution modeling were employed to further investigate the mechanism of formation of the WC10-3 oil and gas pools. It was shown that the crucial condition for the formation of pools is the time of development of the structural trap. The Wenchang Formation source rocks generated oil from 25 to 14 Ma in the possible source area of the WC10-3 oil and gas pools in the Wenchang A Sag, so that only traps formed earlier than this period could capture oil sourced by the Wenchang Formation. The Enping Formation source rock experienced its oil window from 18 Ma to the present with the main stage of oil generation from 15 to 5 Ma. During this period structural traps in the sag continued to form until movements became weak, so that most pools in the Wenchang A Sag originated from the Enping Formation source rock. The likely dissipation of oil and gas from the earlier stage of charging should be taken into account in assessing the oil potential of the Wenchang A Sag.     

Ownership matters: Natural resources property rights and social conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Empirical tests of the “resource curse” thesis have provided inconclusive evidence for the claim that natural resource abundance increases the risk of social conflict. The present article argues, based on a novel political economy framework and a new data set, that it is important to analyze how states regulate the access to their natural resources to understand the interrelationship between resources and public resistance against resource extraction arrangements. We claim that international rather than state resource ownership fosters the regional protest potential and overshadows the efficiency gains that foreign investment might create. Especially the siphoning of resource rents to international owners instigates resentment among the local population. Distinguishing between private, public, domestic and international ownership arrangements, we assess the effects of natural resources control rights regimes on state repression using new GIS-based data on diamond and gold mines as well as oil and gas fields in Sub-Sahara Africa. Our multilevel analysis shows that repression as an answer to societal dissent is particularly likely in grids hosting international oil companies. Furthermore, we find that international oil firms further state repression especially under insecure property rights.     

Small Businesses Need Strong Mediators: Mitigating the Disadvantages of Peripheral Localization Through Alliance Formation

This paper investigates how small entrepreneurial firms in two peripheral regions developed by entering the oil and gas industry. The paper draws on previous studies related to the establishment of strategic alliances and emerging clusters and contributes to these research streams by examining the disadvantages of peripheral localization and small firm size. We use a longitudinal case study based on primary data consisting of 54 in-depth interviews conducted between 2007 and 2012 to illustrate that when large-scale oil and gas projects enter a peripheral region, oil companies can moderate local firms' disadvantages related to peripheral localization by actively facilitating relationships with established national firms. By facilitating such relationships and maintaining an active moderating role, strategic alliances and emerging cluster structures can arise. A cross-case analysis illustrates that the oil company had a decisive role in one of the two cases in two dimensions: its role as intermediary between local firms and national firms and its role in fostering the development of an emerging cluster structure by stimulating the establishment of new firms through the oil and gas project. In the second case, the oil company was unable to facilitate regional development.     

An Equity Model for Locating Environmentally Hazardous Facilities

This paper develops a multiobjective mathematical location model to identify possible locations for environmentally hazardous facilities. Risk and equity are recognized as the most important criteria in determining site selection. In contrast to earlier models, the equity objective explicitly considers the existing distribution of environmental burdens when siting new hazardous facilities. Proposed environmentally hazardous facilities are located so that the burdens associated with new and existing hazards are shared as equally as possible among all areas. The application of the model, in a case study of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, illustrates the trade‐offs associated with various risk and equity scenarios. Sensitivity analyses demonstrate how the existing distribution of environmental burdens may act as a constraint and limit the degree of equity that may be obtained when locating new facilities.     

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINERAL INDUSTRIES

A research design for the study of environmental pollution by mineral industries is proposed, with particular reference to oil and gas extraction in the Volga region. In evaluating the environmental impact, three basic stages need to be distinguished: the impact proper, the environmental reaction and the longer-term consequences for the environment and for human activity. Pollution by mineral industries involves aspects common to most such industries and specific aspects associated with a particular mineral industry. Impacts may be examined from a quantitative and qualitative point of view and in the space-time perspective. Various productive facilities of a mineral industry (production wells, strip mines, deep mines, spoil banks, pipelines, railroads, highways) may have specific impacts on particular environmental components (land, air, water, biological communities). The specific impacts of the oil industry and the coal industry are compared.