Small Business Development and the Inclusive Business Concept

Trends in developing countries over the last two decades show that the involvement of small and very small enterprises makes a constructive contribution to building economies, especially during periods of economic recovery  (Government of South Africa, Detea et al. 2012a). Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) play a vital role in encouraging job creation and their successes are influenced greatly by their ability to enter the value chains of  larger organisations, in both the private and public sectors

Assessing the application of miscible CO2 flooding in oil reservoirs: a case study from Pakistan

Miscible carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding has been recognized as a promising approach to enhance the recovery of oil reservoirs. However, depending on the injection strategy and rock/fluid characteristics, efficiency of the miscible CO2flooding varies from reservoir to reservoir. Although, many studies have been carried out to evaluate the performance of the miscible CO2flooding, a specific strategy which can be strictly followed for a hydrocarbon reservoir has not been established yet. The aim of this study is to assess one of Pakistan’s oil reservoirs for miscible CO2flooding by applying a modified screening criterion and numerical modeling. As such, the most recent miscible CO2screening criteria were modified, and a numerical modeling was applied on the prospective reservoir. Based on the results obtained, South oil reservoir (S3) is chosen for a detailed assessment of miscible CO2flooding. It was also found that implementation of CO2water-alternating gas (CO2-WAG) injection at early stages of production can increase the production life of the reservoir

Institutional Voids and the Philanthropization of CSR Practices: Insights from Developing Economies

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and conceptions vary across sectors and nations. However, there is a general tendency among academics and practitioners to present CSR in Africa as activities characterized by philanthropy due to the existence of institutional voids. This review of the current literature demonstrates that weak institutions lead to weaker bargaining powers designed through the historical and geopolitical institutional frameworks of international business and global governance systems. Accordingly, multinational corporations (MNCs) take advantage of such weaknesses to define CSR on their own terms by replacing the ideal responsible and sustainable innovations with ad hoc philanthropy that diverts the attention from the negative consequences of neoliberal ‘structures of accumulation’. This is akin to aid that hardly contributes to structural changes, but rather leads to complacency, corruption, dependency, boutique projects, disguised exploitation, and the misuse of corporate political power to achieve corporate bottom lines. The implications of the results are vast, and they are generalizable to all weaker institutional settings. Thus, weaker institutions create the necessary regulatory, political, economic, and governance climate that perpetuates a pattern of abuses and ethical violations that are then masked with philanthropy. It is argued that the fundamental institutional and geopolitical contexts within which MNCs interact with nation states cannot be ignored in any comprehensive analysis that seeks to meaningfully shed light on the comparative differences of CSR practices. The neglect of the web of contextual, historical, and geopolitical issues in which CSR is entrenched and framed diverts attention from the origins of the socio-economic and environmental questions to philanthropy as a final solution, which has hitherto been perpetuated with undesirable outcomes

Certification of forest and timer products

Die Debatte über die Zertifizierung von Wäldern in Deutschland stellt seit mehr als fünf Jahren einen Konflikt zwischen verschiedenen Akteuren, die zum Thema Wald arbeiten, dar. Inhalt der Arbeit ist prozessorientierte Analyse dieser Akteure, ihrer Wertvorstellungen und Handlungen. Basierend auf einem theoretischen Hintergrund wurden dazu die Akteurscharakteristika Macht und Einfluss, Ideologie und Interesse, Normen und Kommunikation ebenso betrachtet, wie die Bildung von miteinander konkurrierenden Akteursnetzwerken und die Beziehungen innerhalb und zwischen den jeweiligen Netzwerken. Als Forschungsmethoden dienten dabei Experteninterviews, Inhaltsanalysen sowie die aktive Teilnahme in Arbeitsgruppen zu diesem Thema. Das Konfliktfeld wurde von den (befragten) Akteuren als Dipol zwischen den meisten Akteuren der Forstwirtschaft, insbesondere der Waldbesitzer (- verbände), und den Umweltverbänden wahrgenommen. Die Umweltverbände erachteten eine Zertifizierung der Wälder in Deutschland als Nachweis einer nachhaltigen Waldbewirtschaftung für notwendig und begannen, für den von ihnen präferierten internationalen Ansatz in Deutschland Bündnispartner zu suchen und ein Netzwerk aufzubauen. Währenddessen verweigerten sich viele Akteure aus dem forstlichen Bereich lange Zeit gegenüber einer Zertifizierung. Aufgrund der anwachsenden Einflussmöglichkeiten des genannten Netzwerks sah sich letztlich die forstliche Seite gezwungen, einen eigenen Ansatz aufzubauen und ersuchte dazu ebenfalls die Hilfe von Bündnispartnern. Dabei verlagerte sie den Schwerpunkt auf die europäische Ebene. Während das erste Netzwerk seine Macht, die Konsumenten zu überzeugen, in der durch die Teilnahme der Umweltverbände verliehene Glaubwürdigkeit sieht, schätzen sich die Mitglieder des zweiten Netzwerks aufgrund der sehr großen Fläche, die nach diesem Ansatz zertifiziert werden kann, als einflussreich ein. Die Mitglieder der jeweiligen Netzwerke entwickelten eine netzwerkspezifische Sprache (Soziolekt), die dazu diente, gemeinsame Wertvorstellungen und eine klare Abgrenzung zum "gegnerischen" Netzwerk zu untermauern. Trotz des Versuchs von indifferente Akteure zwischen den Akteuren der beiden Netzwerke zu vermitteln, gelang es bis auf eine inhaltlichen Annäherung der jeweiligen Konzepte bislang nicht die ideologisch geprägte Hürde zwischen den Hauptvertretern der Netzwerke zu überwinden.The debate over forest certification throughout the past five years illustrates a conflict between different actors involved in forestry and forest conservation in Germany. Presented in this dissertation is a process-oriented analysis of these actors, their values and activities. Based on a theoretical framework, the author characterised actors in terms of power and influence, ideology and interest, and norms and communication. The formation of competing policy-networks as well as the relationships within and between networks were also described. The author conducted interviews with experts, followed by interview content analysis, and was an active participant in certification working groups. The conflict was perceived by interviewees as a dipole between environmental groups and the majority of forestry actors, especially private forest owners and associations. Environmental groups considered the certification of sustainable forestry in Germany to be necessary and began looking for and creating a network with allies who supported their preferred certification program. During this process, many actors from the forest industry refused to accept the concept of certification. However, due to the increasing influence of the network initiated by environmental groups, the forest industry was impelled to create its own process and likewise requested help from its allies. This second network shifted its discussions to the European level. The first network expects to receive consumer support through the credibility gained by the participation of environmental groups in its process. The second network, on the other hand, expects to gain influence through the large tracts of forest land that can be certified through its program. Each network has developed its own network-specific language (soziolekt), which serves to fortify common values and allows a clear differentiation from the opposing network. Despite attempts by indifferent actors to mediate between the two networks, the ideological hurdles between the principal agents of the two networks, with the exception of a convergence between the programs standards, have not been overcome

Heavy Oil Production By Carbon Dioxide Injection

Abstract Currently, there is a great deal of interest in carbon dioxide for the recovery of both heavy and light oils. This paper deals with an investigation of the efficiency of gaseous carbon dioxide as a recovery agent for moderately viscous oils. The paper gives numerical model results, and compares and contrasts the findings with laboratory and field test observations, pointing out the range of conditions over which carbon dioxide is likely to be effective. The carbon dioxide injection simulator used simulates three- phase flow, and was checked out for numerical dispersion grid effects, material balance, etc. It was then employed for a variety of carbon dioxide injection simulations. The base cases were in qualitative agreement with the reported experimental data. It was found that over the viscosity range of J 10 1000 mPa.s, carbon dioxide was superior to natural depletion, inert gas injection or water flooding, jar oil viscosities above 70 mPa. s. The gain over water flooding was as much as 9 per cell· tiles in oil recovery, being greater for the more viscous crudes. Oil saturation was an important variable, as oil recovery decreased rapidly with a decrease in saturation. Another significant factor affecting ultimate oil recovery was the critical gas saturation. Viscous oils showed a 27% increase in recovery as the critical gas saturation varied from 0 to 10%. The blow down recovery on curtailment 0/ carbon dioxide injection was about 1 percentile; field values are as high as 4 percentiles. Reasons for this discrepancy are outlined. The amount of carbon dioxide left in the reservoir was used as a measure of the efficiency of the process; it was high for low oil saturations, especially for the more viscous oils. An economic analysis of the carbon dioxide injection process showed that the economics are tenuous; a variety of factors in addition to the oil price would determine the economic viability of the process. Introduction Although there is little debate that a significant amount of oil remains held in the ground by current technical and economic constraints, opinion is widespread as to the proper recovery technique or techniques to unlock these reserves. (Infill drilling and a handful of alternative recovery methods, such as thermal, miscible and improved mobility floods, compete for the over 52 billion cubic metres of United States and Canadian oil (&amp;lt;980 Kg/m3) that remains in place. Carbon dioxide injection, as one of these processes, has long been thought of as a miscible process best applied in light oils with densities less than 930 Kg/m3. However, immiscible carbon dioxide flooding as part of the suite of enhanced oil recovery methods being tested may be promising in the case of heavy, moderately viscous oils where carbon dioxide injection improves recovery by lowering oil viscosity and promoting swelling. Deposits of heavy oil total over one-half trillion metres3 in the U.S., Venezuela and Canada. In the U.S. alone, there are over 2,000 heavy oil reservoirs occurring in 1500 fields in 26 states. </jats:sec

Fracturing Alliance Allows Economical Production of Massive Diatomite Oil Reserves: A Case Study

Summary As North American oilfield operations mature, there is a perceptible loosening of the autocratic ties between oil companies and contractors. They are being replaced by alliances or partnerships designed to minimize cost while improving profitability of the companies involved. This paper evaluates a mature alliance, its implementation, structure, and results. Background California's Lost Hills field, ˜45 miles northwest of Bakersfield (Fig. 1), holds an estimated 2 billion bbl of oil in massive diatomite deposits. Although the porosity of the Lost Hills diatomite reservoir is generally very high, ranging to &amp;gt;60% in the cleaner diatomite, and pay thickness ranges from 500 to 1,200 ft, the permeability is very low (generally &amp;lt;1 md). Because of the low permeability, massive hydraulic fracturing treatments (2,500 to 3,000 lbm of proppant per net perforated foot) are now an integral part of field development. Discovered in 1910, the field produced &amp;lt;5,000 BOPD for the next 70 years (Fig. 2). Completions were either open hole or slotted liner, and production averaged 4 BOPD/well. During the late 1970's, low-sand-volume fracturing techniques (500 to 1,000 lbm per perforated foot) were introduced. Average well production climbed to 10 BOPD/well. Then, in 1987, well productivity again increased significantly with the initiation of massive hydraulic fracturing treatments. Figs. 2 and 3 clearly show the impact of this technology in a low-permeability reservoir. Field production rates have tripled without a significant increase in active well count (abandonment of old slotted-liner completions has kept pace with the addition of these new-technology wells) while ultimate primary recovery estimates have doubled. Responding to this development and the process efficiency opportunities that it created, an exclusive fracturing alliance was initiated in 1990 between Chevron and Schlumberger Dowell. In addition to significant productivity increases, major cost reductions have resulted from continuous process improvement efforts by the alliance team. As of Oct. 1, 1995, more than 2,586 fracture stages had been performed during the completion of more than 600 wells, placing in excess of 1.231 billion lbm of proppant. These efforts have contributed to a 160% production increase, from a pre-1989 level of 6,000 BOPD to current production of 16,000 BOPD. Since 1988, unit fracturing costs were reduced by 40% while profitability improved for both companies. Alliance Development1–9 Chevron Lost Hills Project Team. Owing to the significant volume of oil in place in the diatomite reservoir, Chevron realized the need to initiate a focused effort to optimize diatomite exploitation. In 1988, the company assembled a self-directed project team to review investment opportunities. This crossfunctional group concluded that a significant number of profitable primary development wells remained to be drilled. Because of the more than 500 producing wells required to develop the field, the group also recognized that the net present value of the Chevron Lost Hills asset could be significantly enhanced through reductions in drilling and fracture stimulation costs. Also, because this reservoir is unique and its properties poorly understood, the team believed that gains in well productivity could be achieved through technical evaluation and, ultimately, through a change of the basic fracture stimulation design. The project team recommended development of a long-term relationship with a single fracturing service company to realize the full potential of the Lost Hills field. Its implementation has played a key role in realizing the field's full potential. Alliance Partner Selection. From 1988 to 1990, Chevron conducted field performance evaluations of several fracturing services contractors. The main criteria for the evaluation were job execution, job monitoring, environmental performance, and safety performance. Cost of stimulation services and materials was also considered. This evaluation period was characterized by frequent premature screenouts caused by undesirable variability in gel viscosity and proppant concentrations. The majority of screenouts were caused by an inability to deliver the consistent fracturing slurry quality necessary to stimulate this unique reservoir efficiently. On the basis of these criteria, Dowell was chosen as the alliance partner; and in mid-1990, the two companies began an exclusive relationship for fracturing services at Lost Hills. Both parties began working together to develop the formal alliance document that would lay the foundation for the growing relationship. Alliance Organization. Fig. 4 illustrates the key components of the alliance structure, which includes the following.An alliance steering committee, which sets the overall direction.Two alliance managers (company/supplier).Two alliance coordinators, who coordinate team activities (company/supplier).Two additional members (company/supplier).Technical teams, which continuously improve fracturing design and field development through production and reservoir evaluation.Quality-improvement (QI) teams, which develop and administer performance metrics systems through continuous process improvement. </jats:sec