La guerra de Irak 2003: los interés ocultos de las multinacionales petroleras y su influencia en los miembros permanentes del consejo de seguridad de la ONU

El presente estudio de caso tiene como objetivo mostrar el vínculo que hay entre las multinacionales petroleras y las decisiones que tomaron los cinco miembros permantes del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU (China, Rusia, Francia, Estados Unidos y Reino Unido) a comienzos del año 2003. Para ello se comparara las posiciones que tomó cada Estado, respecto al proyecto de resolución de la guerra contra Irak, con los intereses de sus multinacionales petroleras. Lo anterior, con el fin de comprobar que debido al gran poder económico que tienen las petroleras, éstas ejercen influencia en las decisiones políticas que toma el Estado y, no solo influyen estatalmente sino que logran permear otros escenarios como el Consejo de Seguridad. Por ello se evaluara el papel que cumple la facultad de veto en la aprobación de resoluciones concernientes a la guerra de Irak.

Changing HRM systems in two Russian oil companies: Western hegemony or Russian spetsifika?

We contrast attempts to introduce what were seen as sophisticated Western-style human resource management (HRM) systems into two Russian oil companies – a joint venture with a Western multinational corporation (TNK-BP) and a wholly Russian-owned company (Yukos). The drivers for Western hegemony within the joint venture, heavily influenced by expatriates and the established HRM processes introduced by the Western parent, were counteracted to a significant degree by the Russian spetsifika – the peculiarly Russian way of thinking and doing things. In contrast, developments were absorbed faster in the more authoritarian Russian-owned company. The research adds to the theoretical debate about international knowledge transfer and provides detailed empirical data to support our understanding of the effect of both organizational and cultural context on the knowledge-transfer mechanisms of local and multinational companies. As the analysis is based on the perspective of senior local nationals, we also address a relatively under-researched area in the international HRM literature which mostly relies on empirical data collected from expatriates and those based solely in multinational headquarters.

IT Investment Portfolio Management Over Joint Ventures: Case Study in a Multinational Oil & Gas Company

With information technology (IT) playing an increasing important role in driving the business, the value of IT investment is often challenged because not all of those investment decisions are made in a reasonable way or aligned with business strategies. IT investment portfolio management (PfM) is an effective way to prioritize and select the right IT projects to invest in, by taking all the project proposals into consideration as a whole, based on their business value, risks, costs, and interrelationships. There are different decision models to prioritise projects, and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is one of the most commonly-used methods and is discussed in this master thesis. At the same time, there are IT projects on different levels for a multinational company, from global to local. For instance, many of them are probably proposed by joint ventures on local level. In the oil & gas industry, joint ventures are often formed especially in the area of the upstream (exploration & production). How to involve those projects into the IT investment PfM approach of the parent company is a challenge, because the parent company cannot make the decisions on its own. It needs to prioritize all projects in an adequate way, communicate with JVs and influence them. Also, different control levels on JVs need to be considered. This paper hence attempts to introduce a tailored approach of IT investment PfM for a multinational oil & gas company to address the issues around JVs.

The twilight of the oil Eldorado. How the activity of Russian oil companies on the EU market has evolved. OSW Studies 55, April 2016

The European Union has traditionally been the most important outlet for Russian oil exports. At the same time, during the period 2011-2014 a systematic decline was observed in crude oil supplies to the EU, while at the same time the export of petroleum products increased. It is now difficult to say that Russia is following a coherent oil strategy vis-a-vis the EU. The current shape of Russian activity is more the result of the business interests of individual companies, rather than the result of activities coordinated by the state. Although in the short term (up to 2020), the negative trend in crude oil exports to the EU could be halted (as confirmed by the figures for 2015), the long-term prospects for Russia's position on the EU market are pessimistic. This is because the importance of factors unfavourable to Russia is rising, such as the decrease in consumption of oil in the EU, the increased competition among exporters to the EU market, and the deterioration of the climate of Russian/EU cooperation in the context of the anti-Russian sanctions, as well as unclear prospects for the development of the upstream sector in Russia.

Estudo da viabilidade econômica em campos maduros

When it comes to oil and gas in Brazil is almost certain that we are referring to activities in deep waters off the coast of Campos, Rio de Janeiro, the main field of action of PETROBRAS and a small number of multinational oil companies . Since the Law 9.478/97 allows, by means of concessions, that other companies other than Petrobras, to explore and produce oil and gas domestically. Soon it moved, then the private companies that want small and medium-sized businesses to invest in such activities, forming a segment of independent producers, as occurs in other countries. In this context, this work aims at making an economic feasibility study, is currently analyzing how this thread and focus on the factors that contribute to its development as well as those that constitute barriers. To this end, we conducted a survey examining some mature fields that are in production in order to capture cost information in the phases of project, operation and abandonment. The work also presents an analysis of the results obtained in the survey, identifying the costs higher. With the results obtained through the study used economic engineering tools such as NPV and IRR, using a variety of design scenarios, to study the economic viability of these fields. In scenario 4 was set a production of 4.0 m³ / d of oil, which is an expected average production for several of these fields, whose minimum value of a barrel of oil, to enable this field, was $ 55.00, this value well below what was being practiced in the market today.

Estudo da viabilidade econômica em campos maduros

When it comes to oil and gas in Brazil is almost certain that we are referring to activities in deep waters off the coast of Campos, Rio de Janeiro, the main field of action of PETROBRAS and a small number of multinational oil companies . Since the Law 9.478/97 allows, by means of concessions, that other companies other than Petrobras, to explore and produce oil and gas domestically. Soon it moved, then the private companies that want small and medium-sized businesses to invest in such activities, forming a segment of independent producers, as occurs in other countries. In this context, this work aims at making an economic feasibility study, is currently analyzing how this thread and focus on the factors that contribute to its development as well as those that constitute barriers. To this end, we conducted a survey examining some mature fields that are in production in order to capture cost information in the phases of project, operation and abandonment. The work also presents an analysis of the results obtained in the survey, identifying the costs higher. With the results obtained through the study used economic engineering tools such as NPV and IRR, using a variety of design scenarios, to study the economic viability of these fields. In scenario 4 was set a production of 4.0 m³ / d of oil, which is an expected average production for several of these fields, whose minimum value of a barrel of oil, to enable this field, was $ 55.00, this value well below what was being practiced in the market today.

Oil and gas companies' corporate social responsibility: Policies and HIV initiatives in Nigeria

This dissertation study describes the health and HIV related initiatives of multinational oil and gas companies that operate in Nigeria, perceptions of oil and gas company employees, oil and gas company leaders, and key informants from government, public health, community and the Nigerian business coalition on HIV. A mixed method approach was used. Study participants include employees and leaders that worked for multinational oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria and key informants residing in Nigeria. The oil and gas companies that were sampled all had initiatives in place that were consistent with accepted recommended best practices for companies responding to HIV. All of the companies provided comprehensive health and HIV services to employees and dependents; all had HIV initiatives in the community and had formed partnerships with government or NGO/civil societies. Study participants shared the perception that corporate social responsibility was integral to the oil and gas companies conducting business in Nigeria due to the economic gains of the companies from the country/communities and because of the negative impact that oil and gas exploration activities had on communities. Themes identified that played a role in oil and gas companies' response and how decisions were/should be made were: 'business interest', 'social or government influence', 'pressure to respond', and 'community factors'. The study produced information that can be used to inform and guide oil and gas companies' health and HIV initiatives in Nigeria.^

El derecho de veto en el Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas: la historia de la válvula de seguridad que paralizó el sistema

This article presents an analysis the veto right in the Security Council of the United Nations from its creation until the present time. It begins with the origins of the veto, as well as the determinative reasons for its establishment. It looks at how the veto has been used and, as alleged by some, “abused” by some permanent members of the Security Council. Taking into account that the majority of doctrinal works referring to this issue were written some decades ago, it is timely to analyze how this right has developed from the era of the creation of the United Nations until the present.

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.

Evaluating approaches to product design and sourcing decisions in multinational companies

Product design and sourcing decisions are among the most difficult and important of all decisions facing multinational manufacturing companies, yet associated decision support and evaluation systems tend to be myopic in nature. Design for manufacture and assembly techniques, for example, generally focuses on manufacturing capability and ignores capacity although both should be considered. Similarly, most modelling and evaluation tools available to examine the performance of various solution and improvement techniques have a narrower scope than desired. A unique collaboration, funded by the US National Science Foundation, between researchers in the USA and the UK currently addresses these problems. This paper describes a technique known as Design For the Existing Environment (DFEE) and an holistic evaluation system based on enterprise simulation that was used to demonstrate the business benefits of DFEE applied in a simple product development and manufacturing case study. A project that will extend these techniques to evaluate global product sourcing strategies is described along with the practical difficulties of building an enterprise simulation on the scale and detail required.