Small‐scale commodity frontiers: The bioeconomy value chain of castor oil in Madagascar

The European Commission defines the bioeconomy as a “transition economy which seeks to increase efficiency, optimize use and decrease environmental impact through the reduction of waste and greenhouse gas emissions.” However, attempts to substitute or control nature through efficient bio‐based technology have not lived up to expectations and much of the industry still relies on globally sourced biomass to drive the bioeconomy. This article examines the social and political economic relations surrounding small‐scale production of the feedstock castor oil plant (castor, Ricinus communis) in the deep south of Madagascar. Theorizing the bioeconomy through the lens of a “small‐scale commodity frontier,” it builds from recent injunctions by Jason Moore to show how the appropriation of cheap nature (including paid and unpaid labour) is both historically and geographically co‐produced. The castor value chain is held up as a way to transform regional economies and a “silver bullet” to alleviate poverty and address food security in some of the most economically marginal areas of Madagascar. We adopt a regional and feminist political ecology approach to illustrate what is behind this discursive cloak of “development imaginaries,” making visible the social relations surrounding castor production and demonstrating the historical marginalization involved in producing the frontier.     

采油厂质量文化建设的思考

从促进工作效率提升、增强队伍凝聚力、激发员工创新力3个方面阐述了推进采油厂质量文化建设的意义,并从领导重视、培训宣贯、基础制度建设等方面对采油厂推进质量文化建设的方法和途径进行了论证。指出,采油厂只要将质量文化建设贯穿于油田开发工作始终,积极营造富有生机、充满活力的质量文化氛围,就能促进采油厂"有质量、有效益、可持续发展"。     

The Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index: A method to rank heterogenous extractive industry companies for governance purposes

The Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) covers 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden. It is based on an international expert perception survey among 173 members of the International Panel on Arctic Environmental Responsibility (IPAER), whose input is processed using segmented string relative ranking (SSRR) methodology. Equinor, Total, Aker BP, ConocoPhillips, and BP are seen as the most environmentally responsible companies, whereas Dalmorneftegeophysica, Zarubejneft, ERIELL, First Ore-Mining Company, and Stroygaz Consulting are seen as the least environmentally responsible. Companies operating in Alaska have the highest average rank, whereas those operating in Russia have the lowest average rank. Larger companies tend to rank higher than smaller companies, state-controlled companies rank higher than privately controlled companies, and oil and gas companies higher than mining companies. The creation of AERI demonstrates that SSRR is a low-cost way to overcome the challenge of indexing environmental performance and contributing to environmental governance across disparate industrial sectors and states with divergent environmental standards and legal and political systems.     

Oil prices and economic policy uncertainty: Evidence from global,oil importers,and exporters’ perspective

Containing various information, economic policy uncertainty reflects significant rises and declines when facing shocks like financial crisis, oil-price change, and other specific economic or policy events. This paper empirically studies the interaction between oil prices and the newly formulated economic policy uncertainty indices using a time-varying parameter vector autoregression framework. Generally, the results of this study suggest that economic policy uncertainty reveals fluctuating responses to oil price shocks, while the oil price has a negative response to the uncertainty. The findings also reveal that the economic policy uncertainty indices for oil-importers and oil-exporters respond to oil price shocks differently. The oil price shock has a larger fluctuation to the economic policy uncertainty of oil-exporters than that of importers. Moreover, for the oil-exporters, the negative response to the oil price shock is greater than that of the oil-importing countries. This paper also discusses the impact of asymmetric shocks of oil price on economic policy uncertainty. In particular, after two financial crises, positive shocks decrease the uncertainty and vice versa. These findings are robustly verified.     

供应中断事件前后石油价格变化分析

突发事件造成的重大石油供应中断前后油价的变化取决于:供应中断的规模、直接供应中断恢复的时间、突发事件有无引发其他事件造成新的供应中断的可能、欧佩克对待供应中断的态度和国际社会对突发事件的干预等因素。欧佩克对各类供应中断均会作出增产决定,其总产量将达到甚至超过突发事件前的总产量。产油国战争或罢工结束时的油价基本和突发事件前相当,战争或罢工事件结束对油价的影响作用结束。革命结束时的油价要高于革命前,革命事件对油价仍有一定的影响。     

油脂定性试验菜籽油中棉籽油检出测量不确定度评定的探讨

探讨油脂定性试验——菜籽油中棉籽油检出测量不确定度的评定。用已知棉籽油含量的菜籽油进行检测分析测量过程的不确定度分量,合成相对不确定度(Uc)=18.21%。选择与被测样色泽接近的油脂加标对照,可以有效提高测定准确性。     

原油贸易品质检测标准综述

本文对国内外通行原油贸易品质检测标准及相关器具的计量检定规程进行了研究整理,对标准进行了分类,介绍了标准之间的关系,对各检测标准的应用进行了简单介绍,同时根据计量检定规程,介绍了量值溯源方式。另外,介绍了标准应用过程需要了解的其他相关标准。在原油贸易中各方可作为参考,最后介绍了今后原油贸易品质检测标准的制修订计划和发展方向。     

Do market prices correspond with consumer demands? Combining market valuation and consumer utility for extra virgin olive oil quality attributes in a traditional producing country

The objective of this research is to examine whether there is a relationship between the value of attributes based on the market price and on consumer utilities. To address this objective, the results from a hedonic price (HP) approach are combined with the actual consumer utilities from a real choice experiment (RCE) for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) attributes. The results indicate that the origin of production attribute positively influences consumer utility and it is also positively related to market EVOO prices. Conversely, the PDO quality certification positively influences consumer utility and willingness to pay, although it is not related to EVOO prices in the real market.     

大变局下的能源之路——“2020国际能源发展高峰论坛”综述

世界正经历大发展大变革大调整,变与不变相互交织。中美贸易摩擦作为全球地缘政治紧张局势的组成部分,长期性、严峻性日益凸显,加强中美能源行业合作有助于破解两国贸易摩擦僵局。国际能源治理格局继续深刻调整,美国、沙特阿拉伯、俄罗斯将成为能源治理体系实际权力掌控者,但需求方提升话语权的诉求亦将日益强烈。气候变化压力推动能源向绿色低碳转型,但化石能源在能源结构中的主体地位2050年前不会改变。全球油气供需格局趋于宽松,未来5年国际油气价格有望保持中低位运行。中国营商环境持续改善,朝着更加市场化、法治化、国际化的方向发展,为能源合作创造良好环境。为适应能源转型和技术变革,未来石油公司发展将呈现"归核化"和综合性的特点。     

Which Dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility is a Value Driver in the Oil and Gas Industry?

The oil and gas (O&G) industry suffers from a negative perception of poor sustainability. O&G companies are therefore engaged in several socially sustainable activities related to community development and environmental protection. This article determines whether the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) are equally value‐additive to O&G companies. We measure the company‐specific level of CSR activities from the information provided in the annual financial reports of O&G companies and determine the effects of CSR dimensions on firm value. We find that CSR enhances firm value of O&G companies. While social activities such as employee well‐being and community development are key value‐drivers, environmental and economic sustainable activities have an insignificant impact on the market value of O&G companies. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd