Promises and hurdles in EU-Kazakhstan energy cooperation. EUCAM Commentary No. 20, November 2011

Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister, Karim Massimov, once referred to energy cooperation as the ‘core’ of relations between his country and the European Union (EU). Indeed, there is great mutual interest in this area. Six percent of the EU’s crude oil imports and 16 percent of its uranium imports come from Kazakhstan. And around 80 percent of the latter’s oil exports go towards Europe. For Kazakhstani producers, access to European lucrative and reliable markets is of utmost importance. Over the last several years, the thrust of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy was aimed at increasing the capacity of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) that pumps Kazakhstani oil to Europe. Moreover, Kazmunaigaz’s (KMG) – the national oil and gas company – major external investment was in the Romanian oil company Rompetrol.

The Price of Oil and Soviet/Russian Aggressiveness. CEPS Commentary, 16 January 2015

A decade-long period of a steadily rising oil prices (and that of other raw materials) has given Russia a feeling of strength, bordering on invulnerability, which has made the country more assertive, and ready to use any opportunity to deploy its military power. Based on his analysis of Russian behaviour over the past 50 years, Daniel Gros finds that the abrupt reversal of this trend since the summer of 2014 portends a much less aggressive Russian stance as long as the price of oil remains at present levels.

Transatlantic Conflict and Cooperation Concerning Trade Issues. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 13, July 2014

From the Introduction. Transatlantic relations have undergone significant changes within the past twenty-five years. During the Cold War era, the United States and Western Europe were bound together by a perceived common threat from the Soviet Union. Consequently, economic issues commanded less attention than security issues. After the Cold War ended, economic issues were thought to be the glue that would hold the transatlantic relationship together. Much attention was given for several years to fostering economic cooperation through the development of intergovernmental initiatives. After the terrorist incidents of September 11, 2001 in the United States, and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, security issues again came to the forefront of the relationship. However, in contrast to the earlier era that was mainly characterized by close cooperation, disagreements between the United States and major countries of Western Europe about how to deal with the terrorist threat created severe strains in the relationship. By 2003, the third year of the George W Bush administration, transatlantic political relations had reached perhaps their lowest point since World War II. They have gradually improved since then, but with a significant setback from Wikileaks revelations, and even more serious strains resulting from the revelations by Edward Snowden concerning United States surveillance activities. Security issues have come to the forefront also in connection with regional unrest in the Middle East, EU nations’ dependence on Russian oil and gas, and Russian intrusions into Ukraine.

The consequences for Russia of the nuclear deal with Iran. OSW COMMENTARY NUMBER 177/03.08.2015

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the USA, the United Kingdom, China, France and Russia) plus Germany and the European Union signed a deal with Iran on 14 July in Vienna (a Plan of Action with five appendices, henceforth referred to as the Vienna Agreement). Under this agreement, Iran undertook to restrict its nuclear programme and to bring it under international scrutiny for 15 years in exchange for a gradual lifting of international sanctions (both those imposed between 2006 and 2010 by the UN Security Council and the unilateral US and EU sanctions). Even though Russia has officially reacted positively to this deal, the consequences it will have are rather ambiguous from Moscow’s point of view. Iran looks set to become stronger and will possibly normalise its relations with the West, and especially the United States. This, in political terms, is a disadvantage for Russia. The Kremlin’s ability to use its policy towards Iran as a bargaining chip in contacts with Washington will be reduced significantly. In turn, the benefits will include improving the perception of Russia in the West and the opening up of new opportunities for the geopolitical game in the region, both with Iran and its opponents in the Arab world. Similarly, in economic terms, the possible lifting of sanctions will offer Russia new opportunities to achieve immediate benefits owing to co-operation in the nuclear and military-technical areas. In the short term, the lifting of sanctions will not pose any threat to Russia’s position on the global energy markets. However, in the long term, the end of Iran’s international isolation may bring negative consequences for Russia, such as the dominant position of Western and/or Chinese companies in the Iranian upstream sector, rising exports of Iranian oil and gas to EU and Asian markets (which are essential for Russia) and the downward pressure on oil and gas prices.

Three-Dimensional Structure and Disposition of the Air Conducting and Gas Exchange Conduits of the Avian Lung: The Domestic Duck (Cairina moschata)

The anatomy of the domestic duck lung was studied macroscopically, by casting and by light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy. The lung had four categories of secondary bronchi (SB), namely, the medioventral (MV, 4-5), laterodorsal (LD, 6-10), lateroventral (LV, 2-4), and posterior secondary bronchi (PO, 36-44). The neopulmonic parabronchi formed an intricate feltwork on the ventral third of the lung and inosculated those from the other SB. The lung parenchyma was organized into cylindrical parabronchi separated by thin septa containing blood vessels. Atria were shallow and well-fortified by epithelial ridges reinforced by smooth muscle bundles and gave rise to 2-6 elongate infundibulae. Air capillaries arose either directly from the atria or from infundibulae and were tubular or globular in shape with thin interconnecting branches. The newly described spatial disposition of the conducting air conduits closely resembles that of the chicken. This remarkable similarity between the categories, numbers, and 3D arrangement of the SB in the duck and chicken points to a convergence in function-oriented design. To illuminate airflow dynamics in the avian lung, precise directions of airflow in the various categories of SB and parabronchi need to be characterized.

Heat flow and heat conductivity coefficient measured in bottom sediments collected in Cruise 13 of R/V Akademik Sergey Vavilov in the Pechora Sea

In Cruise 13 of R/V Akademik Sergey Vavilov in the Pechora Sea, six heat flow varied from 50 to 75 mW/m**2. Deep heat flow in the Pechora Sea was calculated equal to 45 mW/m**2, which is confirmed by results of geological and geophysical studies and corresponds to Middle Baikal age of the basement. A model of structure of the lithosphere in the Pechora Sea is suggested. Total thickness of the lithosphere in the basin (190 km) determined from geothermal data agrees well with that in transition zones from the continent to the ocean. According to estimates of deep heat flow in the region obtained, thickness of the mantle (160 km), of the basaltic (15 km), and of the granitic (15 km) layers of the lithosphere were also evaluated. Temperature values at boundaries of the sedimentary layers were calculated over a geological and geophysical profile crossing the Pechora Sea basin. Temperatures obtained agree with the temperature interval of hydrocarbon generation and correspond to Permian-Triassic sedimentary sequences, which are the most productive ones in the Pechora Sea region from the point of view of oil and gas potential.

Degradation of [14C]GlcDGD in the marine sediment by monitoring radioactivity in the aqueous and gas phase using liquid scintillation counting (LSC) techniques

An experiment was conceived in which we monitored degradation of GlcDGD. Independent of the fate of the [14C]glucosyl headgroup after hydrolysis from the glycerol backbone, the 14C enters the aqueous or gas phase whereas the intact lipid is insoluble and remains in the sediment phase. Total degradation of GlcDGD then is obtained by combining the increase of radioactivity in the aqueous and gaseous phases. We chose two different sediment to perform this experiment. One is from microbially actie surface sediment sampled in February 2010 from the upper tidal flat of the German Wadden Sea near Wremen (53° 38' 0N, 8° 29' 30E). The other one is deep subsurface sediments recovered from northern Cascadia Margin during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 311 [site U1326, 138.2 meters below seafloor (mbsf), in situ temperature 20 °C, water depth 1,828 m. We performed both alive and killed control experiments for comparison. Surface and subsurface sediment slurry were incubated in the dark at in situ temperature, 4 °C and 20 °C for 300 d, respectively. The sterilized slurry was stored at 20 °C. All incubations were carried out under N2 headspace to ensure anaerobic conditions. The sampling frequency was high during the first half-month, i.e., after 1, 2, 7, and 14 d; thereafter, the sediment slurry was sampled every 2 months. At each time point, samples were taken in triplicate for radioactivity measurements. After 300 d of incubation, no significant changes of radioactivity in the aqueous phase were detected. This may be the result of either the rapid turnover of released [14C] glucose or the relatively high limit of detection caused by the slight solubility (equivalent to 2% of initial radioactivity) of GlcDGD in water. Therefore, total degradation of GlcDGD in the dataset was calculated by combining radioactivity of DIC, CH4, and CO2, leading to a minimum estimate.

Pyrolysis of industrial wastes for oil and activated carbon recovery /

Issued May 1977.

Outer continental shelf sale 40--inadequate data used to select and evaluate lands to lease, Department of the Interior : report to the Congress /

"B-118678."