Oil-producing Countries Research Articles

Petroleum Exploration and Production Contracts as Regulatory Tools: The Kurdistan Region Production Sharing Contracts

The operating activities of the petroleum sector require large amounts of money and high levels of experience and technology that cannot be provided exclusively by most oil-producing countries or their public companies. Therefore, concluding a petroleum exploration and production contract is necessary to address the rights and obligations of the host State and international oil companies; while, various types of petroleum contracts have been developed to address those rights and obligations. In the Kurdistan Region, as an oil-producing region, oil and gas resources are being explored and produced by international oil companies, under production sharing contracts. This study attempts to appraise traditional and modern types of petroleum exploration and production contracts in detail, to examine the fundamental differences and similarities between them; and also to analyse the Kurdistan Region’s production sharing contracts. This research has clarified that the traditional contracts of different types of petroleum contracts are quite different, however, the modern contracts have many provisions in common. Therefore, currently, the choice of contract type might be less important than the content of particular contractual provisions. Finally, the research has clarified that the Kurdistan Region’s production sharing contracts comprise several positive provisions that have attracted a wide range of international oil companies to invest in the Kurdistan Region. Keywords : The Kurdistan Region of Iraq, The Kurdistan Regional Government, Production Sharing Contract, Concession Contract, Service Contract, Joint Venture Contract, International Oil Company, Traditional and Modern Petroleum Contracts. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/101-17 Publication date: September 30 th 2020

The fiscal regime for UK shale gas: Analysing the impacts of pad allowance on shale gas investments

The UK is believed to hold prolific reserves of shale gas; the quality of which has been compared and sometimes branded superior to the much successful US shale plays. Nonetheless, after more than ten years since the 13th Onshore Licensing Round, the fracking industry is said to have benefited from just £400 million - £500 million of estimated investments and only one partially fracked well with yet an uncertain fate of commercial production. This paradox motivated the current research. Based on a discounted cash flow model, the economic feasibility of the tax regime was evaluated with a special interest in the pad allowance [PA], a major incentive of the fiscal regime. We find that the design of the fiscal regime well achieves the Government's financial objectives, but fails to support shale gas investments at lower gas prices. PA introduces further variability in investor cash flows, ultimately defeating the ethos of the incentive. We propose a reduction in the overall tax rate from 40% to no more than 21%; a removal of the additional tax charge (Supplementary Charge) and an amendment of PA rules to; (1) allow an extension of RFES to PA; (2) permit transfer of activated PA across companies in the same group; and (3) redefine capital expenditure to include intermediate well retirement costs necessary to drill new wells to stimulate production. Such a tax strategy would simplify and align the UK fiscal regime with practices across the US, China, Algeria and Canada. Importantly, it would better match the risk of shale gas investments to its rewards and could better attract investments. We recommend the strategy for emerging unconventional oil and gas producing countries for an efficient design of their fiscal regimes.

OIL PRICE FLUCTUATIONS AND STOCK MARKET BEHAVIOR IN A RESOURCE-DOMINANT ECONOMY: CASE OF KAZAKHSTAN

During the past 10 years, the oil market has been very unpredictable and volatile, which created uneasy conditions for market participants. The remedy of increasing oil prices is considered as a positive factor for the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan as an oil-exporting country. Using structural decomposition of vector autoregression (VAR), this study aims to examine how the whole financial system in Kazakhstan is depending on oil prices. The results suggest that the strongest factor affecting the stock index is aggregate demand, and the impact of oil production shocks on the equity market is, on average, insignificant. Such shocks can be discounted while a fall in oil prices affects financial conditions as a whole, damaging the solvency of Kazakhstan, an oil-exporting country. With the positive shock of aggregate demand, the stock market index tends to rise. There is also an effect of oil price volatility on changes in currency value, which also influences the financial situation of the country. Moreover, oil-exporting countries such as Kazakhstan can secure and support their economies with the help of “stable aggregate demand”. The focus on Kazakhstan as one of the oil-producing countries is interesting for at least two reasons. Importantly, oil-exporting countries supply oil to really strong countries concentrating on manufacturing and other industries. Besides, this study provides useful insights for countries with similar economic conditions, including similar stock market development.

Oil price volatility and political unrest: Prudence and protest in producer and consumer societies, 1980–2013

Revenue from oil makes countries susceptible to the “resource curse” since rulers have ready access to finance for buying off opposition rather than reform. We explore this issue by examining whether oil price volatility affects anti-government unrest. We argue that in oil-producing countries, low price years generate anti-government protest conditional on a state's access to foreign exchange reserves. The prudent management of oil revenue during boom years can allow some oil-rich states to manage political dissent while others fail. Contrarily, in oil-importing countries, high oil price years increase anti-government dissent, but again, conditional on access to foreign exchange reserves, which allow governments to ease the pain of austerity. Using panel data covering 165 countries between 1980 and 2013 (34 years), we find clear evidence in support of these propositions. Oil-producer countries that are able to resist political Dutch disease and save for “rainy days” are more capable of weathering low-price years. Similarly, oil import-dependent states face higher dissent during high oil price years, but conditional on access to foreign reserves. These results are in line with others that show that some oil producers avoid civil war through heavy public spending. Oil-rich countries should manage oil revenues in ways that allow them to survive the low price years, perhaps by avoiding both economic and political Dutch disease, which will only lead to inevitable regime challenge. The results are robust to alternative data, measurement, sample size, and estimation methods.

Drivers of CO2-Emissions in Fossil Fuel Abundant Settings: (Pooled) Mean Group and Nonparametric Panel Analyses

The present inquiry addresses the income-environment relationship in oil-producing countries and scrutinizes the further drivers of atmospheric pollution in the respective settings. The existing literature that tests the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis within the framework of the black-box approaches provides only a bird’s-eye perspective on the long-run income-environment relationship. The aspiration behind this study is making the first step toward the disentanglement of the sources of carbon dioxide emissions, which could be employed in the pollution mitigation policies of this group of countries. Based on the combination of two strands of literature, the environmental Kuznets curve conjecture and the resource curse, the paper at hand proposes an augmented theoretical framework of this inquiry. To approach the research questions empirically, the study employs advanced panel cointegration techniques. To avoid econometric misspecification, the study also employs for the first time a nonparametric time-varying coefficient panel data estimator with fixed effects (NPFE) for the dataset of 37 oil-producing countries in the time interval spanning between 1989 and 2019. The empirical analysis identifies the level of per capita income, the magnitude of oil rents, the share of fossil fuel-based electricity generation in the energy mix, and the share of the manufacturing sector in GDP as essential drivers of carbon dioxide emissions in the oil-rich countries. Tertiarization, on the contrary, leads to a substantial reduction of emissions. Another striking result of this study is that level of political rights and civil liberties are negatively associated with per capita carbon emissions in this group of countries. Furthermore, the study decisively rejects an inverted U-shaped income-emission relationship and validates the monotonically or exponentially increasing impact of average income on carbon dioxide emissions.

Air Transport and Its Impact on the Tourism Industry in Rwanda: Case of RwandAir

The study focused on the air transportation and its impact on the tourism industry in Rwanda; the case of RwandAir. The study objectives were to identify the contributions of air transportation to the development of tourism industry in Rwanda; to establish the challenges facing the air transport sector and to propose strategic measures to mitigate the challenges. The study used a cross-sectional survey thus both the qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied. The study used closed-ended questionnaires, structured interview, as well as document review. Purposive sampling was used on the key managers of both RwandAir and Rwanda Development Board. The study targeted 700 international tourists and 200 domestic tourists (conveniently selected), as well as structured interview with 30 senior officers of RwandAir and 20 senior officers of RDB, hence making the total population to be 950 respondents. The study sample size was 274 respondents. However, after validating the returned questionnaires, only 240 questionnaires were found to be valid. It was revealed that RwandAir greatly contributes to tourism development in many ways such as marketing, job creation, transporting tourists, providing a convenient, quick and safe way to get into the country among others. It was revealed by the world bank that international tourism arrivals in 2016 was 932000 tourists bringing in 25.85 % of total exports and total imports and expenditure on travel service es was 11.99 % in Rwanda. The number of tourists’ arrivals was limited to arrivals by air. However, RwandAir and air transport in general faces changing oil prices, expensive jets, terrorism in neighbouring countries, limited funding, skills gap in aviation sector (lack of technical engineers and pilots), geographical location, inadequate infrastructure and to a great extent, lack of safety compliance. The strategies that can be adopted to improve air transport sector are: more funding to air transport industry by government; oil and energy negotiations with oil-producing countries; skills enhancement like training local pilots and engineers; improved airport infrastructure in Rwanda e.g. at Kigali international airport and other domestic airports; space agreements as well as benchmarking best airline companies like Qatar and emirates and others in the region. The study recommends tax concessions for the air transport, oil negotiations, opening up and re-development of the domestic airports in the country, reduced prices for incoming tourists using RwandAir, partnerships between government and private sector in developing air transport, increased training of aviation staff among others. It is believed that when these are done, then air transport will continue to positively transform tourism into a better and developing sector with sustained customer base hence national development.

Techno-Economic Analysis of Pressurized Oxy-Fuel Combustion of Petroleum Coke

Petroleum coke (petcoke) is a by-product of heavy petroleum refining, with heating values comparable to that of coal. It is readily available in oil-producing countries such as the United States of America (USA) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) at minimum costs and can be used as an inexpensive fossil fuel for power generation. Oxy-petcoke combustion is an attractive CO2 capture option as it avoids the use of additional absorption units and chemicals, and results in a CO2 + H2O flue gas stream that is compressed and dehydrated in a CO2 capture and purification unit (CO2CPU). The additional cost of the CO2CPU can be reduced through high pressure combustion. Hence, this paper reports a techno-economic analysis of an oxy-petcoke plant with CO2 capture simulated at pressures between 1 and 15 bars in Aspen PlusTM based on USA and KSA scenarios. Operating at high pressures leads to reduced equipment sizes and numbers of units, specifically compressors in CO2CPU, resulting in increased efficiencies and decreased costs. An optimum pressure of ~10 bars was found to maximize the plant efficiency (~29.7%) and minimize the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), cost of CO2 avoided and cost of CO2 captured for both the USA and KSA scenarios. The LCOE was found to be moderately sensitive to changes in the capital cost (~0.7% per %) and increases in cost of petcoke (~0.5% per USD/tonne) and insensitive to the costs of labour, utilities and waste treatment.

Health risks associated with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in indoor dust collected from houses in Kuwait

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a byproduct of combustion processes. They are common pollutants in oil-producing countries because fossil fuel processing generates PAHs that associate with dust. Airborne particles containing PAHs are transported into houses during dust storms, which are common in the arid oil-producing countries, and consequently the children and adults in the household are exposed to PAHs in indoor house dust. The goal of this study was to present a systematic survey of PAHs in indoor house dust in Kuwait. The PAHs concentrations and composition of indoor house dust was determined, along with their probable source and the potential carcinogenic risks. Total PAHs concentrations (ƩPAH) were, on average (±standard deviation) 1112 ± 347 μg/kg and ranged from 450 to 2242 μg/kg. Heavier congeners (4–6 ring PAHs) represented 61% of the ƩPAH. Petroleum combustion and traffic emissions were the major source of PAHs, based on the isomeric ratios of PAHs in indoor house dust. The incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCRs) of exposure to PAHs in indoor house dust was 2.23 × 10−3 (95% CI: 1.99 × 10−3 – 2.48 × 10−3) for children and 2.15 × 10−3 (95% CI: 1.94 × 10−3 – 2.37 × 10−3) for adults, exceeding the US EPA safe limit of 1 × 10−6. Therefore, exposure to PAHs present in indoor house dust increases the cancer risk for children and adults in Kuwait.

Forward-looking agents and inflation in an oil-producing country: Evidence from Iran

A monetary model of inflation was estimated on the oil-producing country of Iran for the period 1984:1–2016:4. It was found that expectations are formed rationally and that agents are forward-looking and adjust their behavior based on changes in government expenditure. Consequently, it was found that higher fiscal variables result in lower price levels over the long run. A higher oil price leads to a lower price in the country but to a higher money supply and interest rate over the long run. Furthermore, a higher domestic interest rate results in a higher price level, while the reverse is true for a higher foreign interest rate. Another cause of inflation in Iran is the foreign price level. It was found that over the short run a higher growth of the real government expenditure results in a lower inflation rate in the country but a positive change in the foreign interest rate brings in a higher inflation rate.

It’s déjà vu all over again: COVID-19, the global energy market, and the Russian economy

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted large swathes of the global economy, threatening the growth models of major oil and gas producer countries like Russia. A collapse in oil prices, triggered by the pandemic, once again exposed Russia’s enduring susceptibility to sharp falls in oil and gas prices. We argue that this decline in oil prices came at a time when tectonic shifts in global energy markets had already threatened to reduce the value of future oil and gas revenues. These structural changes were accelerated by the collapse in demand caused by the pandemic. Because the Russian leadership had done little to address the threat posed by the emergence of a new energy order, the economy remained highly dependent on oil and gas sales as the primary source of growth. While measures undertaken since 2014 to reduce the government’s fiscal dependence on high oil prices will help Russia avoid a worst-case outcome of a fiscal or financial crisis, the dependence of other branches of the economy on the energy sector remains high. This has left Russia set once again to experience a deeper recession than that forecast for other energy exporting economies.

Challenges and opportunities for climate policy integration in oil-producing countries: the case of the UAE and Oman

ABSTRACT In the context of international climate change obligations, Gulf Arab states have introduced policies to integrate climate policies into economic development and planning, seeking to maximize clean development opportunities yet at the same time to minimize the threats to their rentier economies caused by sudden shifts away from fossil fuels. This paper assesses the challenges and opportunities for climate policy integration in the Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, examining the interaction between their climate policy and their political–economic regimes. It adopts a novel analytical framework that integrates insights from climate policy integration and the political–economic theory of rentier states. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and relevant policy documents, it reveals modest progress in integrating climate policy into economic development plans in the UAE but major impediments to climate policy integration in Oman. Both countries face significant shortfalls in climate-related financial and human resource capacities. Climate policy integration efforts have focused on the energy sector with the purpose of protecting rents from oil exports rather than advancing a low-carbon transformation of their economies. This has created structural ambiguity in the climate policy integration advanced in the UAE and Oman. Key policy insights The availability, quality and accessibility of climate-related data are serious challenges for policy makers in the UAE and Oman. Both countries have evolving institutional architectures conducive to climate policy integration. However, these are more symbolic than substantive, lacking clear policy integration strategies across the governments. The UAE and Oman both face significant shortfalls in climate-related financial and human resource capacities. Support for climate policy integration by the ruling elites in the UAE and Oman is significantly shaped by rentier interests: most climate-related initiatives have addressed the energy sector, aiming to protect rents from oil exports by reducing the domestic dependence on fossil fuels.

Price War, Climate Change and COVID-19: Shift of Power in the Global Energy Industry and Resource Curse

Even before the price war in March, 2019 it was evident that the oil and gas industry faced a new energy order. First, the “shale revolution” in North America has created a more flexible source of oil and gas, undermining the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their ability to manage production. In 2014-15, Saudi Arabia tried to damage the shale industry in the United States (US) by increasing production and driving down the oil price. But this strategy ultimately failed as the shale industry reduced its costs and was able to recover and secure the finance needed to expand production. In September 2016, Russia and Saudi Arabia reached the so-called OPEC+ agreement, involving 24 oil-producing countries, to manage oil production to support the price of oil. This worked briefly, but it also incentivized the US shale industry to increase production. Output surged, reaching record levels in early 2020. The emergence of the US as a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has had an equally destabilizing impact on global gas markets. Second, following the Paris Agreement in 2015, there has been an increased determination to address climate change and accelerate the de-carbonization of the global energy system, alongside a desire to reduce urban air pollution. This has been aided by the rapid fall in the cost of renewable power generation and a growing acceptance of the need to reduce fossil fuel consumption sooner rather than later. In this context, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting unprecedented fall in oil and gas demand preview an inevitable, more definitive shift that presents an existential threat to so-called “Producer Economies”.

A ‘Crypto Tax Assessment Index (C-TAI)’ for oil and gas industry

In addition to conventional taxes, host oil and gas producing countries impose a “crypto tax”, including sustainability-related taxes similar to environmental taxes and social sphere development costs. These taxes aim to maximize government taxes which are collected to ensure operational efficiency and sustainable development. In contrast, multinational oil companies look beyond conventional taxes by performing a thorough assessment of “crypto tax” while deciding investment locations. Extractive industry taxation literature is limited in offering a scrupulous index. In particular, how a robust index is constructed and tested for these quasi-taxes. Therefore, the issues surrounding the construction and testing of Crypto Tax Assessment Index (C-TAI) underpins the relevance and motivations of this study. Specifically, this study aims to examine the construction and testing of a C-TAI in guiding policymakers and investors concerning crypto taxes. A properly constructed Index would enable governments to undertake environmental and sustainability assessment, knowing that the index suited their particular petroleum fiscal policy. The Malaysian marginal oil field sector was established to test internal and external validities and model fit indices of the C-TAI through surveying the opinions of experts in this field. Taking these views and opinions into consideration, in constructing an appropriate C-TAI, researchers can use the index address possible questions relating to the effects of crypto taxes on individual oil and gas projects or the overall petroleum sector of a country. For instance, how useful the constructed C-TAI could be in the examination the effect of crypto taxes on the profitability of a mature basin? How does the constructed C-TAI could be used in relation to the effect of crypto taxes on the profitability of marginal oil fields and the investment climate of a frontier petroleum basin? In answering these questions, it is anticipated that a properly constructed and robust C-TAI would help to guide policymakers and investors in understanding the importance of a C-TAI for crypto taxes, including sustainable developments.

Analysis of Oil Import Risk and Strategic Petroleum Reserve: The Case of China

Based on the data of 17 countries along the “One Belt and One Road” from 2000 to 2016, this paper quantified China’s oil import risks, and proposed a quantitative model to cope with the oil disruption. According to the model, the optimized scales of strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) and alternative fuels were calculated. An analysis of China’s examples shows that Saudi Arabia and Russia were the countries with the least supply risks in 2000−2016, and 10 countries with the highest risk of marine transportation were mainly located in the Middle East. China’s oil imports from Iraq and Qatar were more vulnerable to supply risks, and oil imports from other oil-producing countries in the Middle East were less affected. In addition, China’s oil imports from Asian countries were more susceptible to transportation risks, and those from the Middle East countries were less or not affected. If only SPR is considered, the optimal scale of SPR is 77 “days of oil consumption” to cope with the once-in-a-decade disruption to oil supplies. Once both alternative fuels and SPR were considered, China’s optimal alternative fuels’ size is 10 “days oil consumption” and SPR size is 75 “days oil consumption” to cope with the once-in-a-decade oil disruption. When changing disruption size, the proportion of alternative fuel and SPR will also change. If disruption scale continues to increase, the alternative fuels’ size increases from 10 “days of oil consumption” to 25 “days of oil consumption”, then decreases to 0, and the SPR size increases from 75 “days of oil consumption” to 270 “days of oil consumption”. This indicates that the SPR is more important than alternative fuels when the disruption scale is large.

Up the Down Staircase: What History Teaches Us about Oil Demand after a Crisis

Although the scale of oil demand destruction from the Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented, it does not mean there are no precedents to help us think about what oil demand will look like after the crisis passes. Marie Fagan, Chief Economist at London Economics International (“LEI”) and a colleague completed a study of 40+ years of global oil supply and demand shocks, which provides insights as to how oil demand responds after a crisis. This study examines economic growth, and oil demand and prices (crude oil, gasoline, and diesel) at the country level for OECD, non-OECD, and oil-producing countries. Based on examination of the data, econometric analysis, and a review of the literature, what history teaches us is that declines in global oil intensity come in large stair-steps, not gradually. Once oil intensity drops down a stair-step, it does not fully recover to previous levels, even after many years.

CO2 emission management in palm oil industries in Indonesia: a review

Within a few decades, Indonesia has become the largest palm oil-producing country, leaving Malaysia behind. It is undeniable that palm oil has significantly contributed to the economic growth of the country. However, the negative impacts of the palm oil industry are also evident, such as deforestation, environmental pollution, and social conflicts. The palm oil industry has been known as one of the big greenhouse gasses producers, including CO2. Regardless of the pressure from the European Union, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) has committed to sustaining the palm oil industry since there are millions of workforces depend on their livelihood from these industries. Concerning the negative impacts, the GOI requests that each palm oil company has to follow the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification. So far, around 20% of all palm oil industries in the country have received an ISPO certificate. It is expected by 2023, all palm oil industries have been certified by ISPO since this regulation is mandatory. Implementing all ISPO guidelines in the palm oil industry is not only capable of sustaining the industry but also protecting the environment through the reduction of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. This paper will review the CO2 management in the palm oil industry in Indonesia in the present situation, connected with ISPO as well as RSPO (Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil).

The burden of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributed to ambient sulfur dioxide over 26 years.

Developing countries, particularly those with a rapid development, are experiencing increasing pollution by sulfur dioxide (SO2). Despite the considerable SO2 exposure effect on health, there is little evidence regarding this fact in Iran, as one of the largest oil and gas producing countries in the world. The present study, therefore, was designed to investigate the burden of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributed to the SO2 exposure in Iran, over a 26-year period. All measured SO2 levels were collected from 92 air quality monitoring stations (AQMSs) in 29 cities, during 1996-2013. Since the study years were from 1990 to 2015, and also due to missing data at existing stations, the spatiotemporal model was used to estimate the exposure to this gas during this period. To calculate the burden of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, the population attributable fraction (PAF) value was calculated, and the SO2-attributed mortality and years of life lost (YLL) were determined per province, and in the whole country. The results of this study showed that the SO2 concentration was increased from 22.00ppb (7.69-67.28) in 1990 to 27.81ppb (9.88-82.27), in 2015. The lowest annual value of 11.53ppb (4.68-32.06) and the highest value of 45.11ppb (16.58-1226) were estimated at 2004 and 1997, respectively. There was a sinusoidal trend in the gas concentration changes. The highest occurrence of SO2-attributed deaths due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were 0.080 (0.024-0.168) and 0.076 (0.026-0.165), and the lowest levels were 0.017 (0.004-0.044) and 0.047 (0.017-0.124), respectively. According to the results in our country, the SO2 trend was sinusoidal during 26years, with a recurrent rise occurring after each declining period. It is recommended to design the sustainable national method policies and programs with the continuous evaluation and modification for the reduction of fossil fuel consumption and further implementation in the use of clean energy.

Investigation of optimal inflation targets for 15 major oil exporting Sub-Saharan African countries

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the optimal inflation targets for an appropriate exchange rate policy in 15 major oil exporting countries in Sub-Saharan African (SSA). Design/methodology/approach Dynamic heterogeneous panel threshold techniques are used via threshold-effect test and threshold regression. This procedure is achieved through a grid search and bootstrapping replications method to stimulate the asymptotic distribution of the likelihood ratio test of the null hypothesis on no-threshold as against the alternative hypothesis. The p-values validate the threshold estimates. Findings Findings revealed that the optimal inflation target has a turning point and its impact on the real exchange rate is up to a threshold level of 14.47 per cent. Furthermore, the inflation rate above the threshold level overwhelmingly revealed its effect on real exchange regimes. Research limitations/implications It would have been a good idea to investigate optimal inflation targets for all African countries but due to inadequate data the selection criteria was narrowed to oil-exporting countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Practical implications Inflation targeting beyond the threshold level would have serious implications on the monetary policy. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to look at optimal inflation targets for 15 major oil exporting countries in general and SSA countries in particular. The findings provide a critical analysis of an inflation regime for a typical oil-producing country that oil exports being their source of revenue.

The relationship between good governance and CO2 emissions in oil- and non-oil-producing countries: a dynamic panel study of sub-Saharan Africa.

This study empirically examined the relationship between CO2 emissions and good governance in oil- and non-oil-producing countries in the SSA region. The findings from this paper revealed very interesting results proving that good governance has a negative relationship with CO2 emissions. Oil-producing countries have good governance system to help control and reduce CO2 emissions as compared to non-oil-producing countries. Particularly, in oil-producing countries, business regulatory environment, budget and fiscal management, as well as fiscal policy have a significant negative relationship with CO2 emissions. But there is rather a positive relationship between these indicators and CO2 emissions in non-oil-producing countries as they do not have the required structures and arrangements to control CO2 emissions. Also, in oil-producing countries, property rights and rules have positive relationship with CO2 emissions but in the case of non-oil-producing countries, there is a negative relationship, meaning that non-oil-producing countries have good legal system and rule-based governance structures that is capable of protecting property rights. There is positive relationship between quality of government administration and CO2 emissions in oil-producing countries but negative for non-oil-producing countries. Trade liberalization and economic growth have positive relationship with CO2 emissions in both categories. But urbanization has a negative relationship with CO2 emissions in non-oil-producing countries but positive for oil-producing. The findings point that effective and efficient institutions is a vital element for SSA countries to help combat the increased emissions of CO2 to engender growth.

Deltamethrin resistance in Chagas disease vectors colonizing oil palm plantations: implications for vector control strategies in a public health-agriculture interface

BackgroundTriatomine bugs are responsible for the vectorial transmission of the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, etiological agent of Chagas disease, a zoonosis affecting 10 million people and with 25 million at risk of infection. Several triatomine species of the genus Rhodnius have been found inhabiting palm crowns where insects can find shelter in leaves axils and blood from palm-associated vertebrates. Rhodnius prolixus insects have been collected in oil palms in Colombia, and high T. cruzi infection rates were found. Since pest control is carried out in oil palm plantations, continuous exposure to insecticides could be occurring in these triatomines. Some insecticides suggested for pest control in oil palm plantations are also recommended for triatomine control in human dwellings. In this study, our objective was to assess if triatomines inhabiting oil palms exhibit resistance to deltamethrin, an insecticide used for vector control.MethodsRhodnius prolixus nymphs were sampled in oil palms located in Tauramena, Colombia. To determine deltamethrin resistance, biological and biochemical assays were carried out on fifth-instar nymphs from the F1 generation. For biological assays, pure and commercial deltamethrin were used, and in biochemical assays, activities of detoxifying enzymes related to pyrethroid resistance, such as oxidases, esterases and transferases, were quantified.ResultsDeltamethrin lethal dosage 50 and 90 in R. prolixus from oil palms was significantly higher than in those from a susceptible colony suggesting possible deltamethrin resistance. Moreover, mortality with commercial deltamethrin was very low in insects from oil palms. In biochemical assays, the activity of evaluated detoxifying enzymes was significantly higher in R. prolixus from oil palms than in those from the susceptible colony.ConclusionsPossible deltamethrin resistance found in R. prolixus insects from oil palms could threaten traditional vector control strategies in urban settings if insecticide-resistant triatomines can migrate from oil palms plantations. In palm oil producer countries such as Colombia, the oil palm plantations are growing constantly during the last years. We suggest that pest control strategies in oil palm crops should include triatomine surveillance and toxicological monitoring, especially in zones with several Chagas disease cases.