Disposal of Petroleum Installations - Major Policy Issues

Following the Brent Spar controversy, the OSPAR countries reached a unanimous agreement in 1998 for the future rules for disposal of petroleum installations. The vast majority of existing offshore installations will be re-used or returned to shore for recycling or disposal. For installations where there is no generic solution, one should take a case-by-case approach. We provide a survey of international economic and regulatory issues pertaining to disposal of petroleum installations, and provide specific examples by analysing the Norwegian decommissioning and disposal policy. Optimal disposal policy can be analysed by cost-benefit analyses with distributional effects, subject to environmental and goodwill constraints.Petroleum installations, decommissioning, disposal, externalities

Changes in herring consumption in Russia

In the seafood category Russian consumers are adopting new species and new product forms at a rapid rate. We employ a panel data set on monthly per capita demand for different herring products in six Russian regions to test hypotheses on the structure of herring consumption. Our econometric estimates indicate significant structural regional differences in per capita consumption of different products. We find that whole herring is generally an inferior good, whereas fillet herring products tend to be normal goods. This suggests that if incomes continue to increase, consumption will shift further from unprocessed to value added herring products

When will trade restrictions affect producer behavior: Oligopsony power in international trade

,Oligopsony; Residual supply; trade

European Market Integration for Gas? Volume Flexibility and Political Risk

Gas exports to the Continent are regulated by long term take-or-pay contracts. The contracts are described and analyzed. We thereafter examine whether the most central European gas market, the German market, is integrated. Are there substantial price differences between gas from different export countries, and do prices move together? Time series of Norwegian, Dutch and Russian gas export prices to Germany in 1990-1998 are examined. Cointegration tests show that the different border prices for gas to Germany move proportionally over time, indicating an integrated gas market (the Law of One Price holds). We find differences in mean prices, with Russian gas being sold at prices systematically lower than Dutch and Norwegian gas. Among the explanatory factors for price discrepancies are differences in volume flexibility (swing) and perceived political risk.Market integration, gas markets, cointegration test

Energy Taxes and Natural Gas Demand in EU-Countries

Producers or consumers faced with an increase in taxes are usually able to shift parts of it to other levels in the value chain. We examine who is actually bearing the burden of increased energy taxes in the EU-area - consumers or exporters. Traditional tax incidence theory presumes spot markets. Natural gas in the EU-area, however, is to a large extent regulated by incomplete long-term contracts. Still, spot market forces could be indicative for tax shifting, by determining the ex post bargaining power in contract renegotiations. By examining tax shifting in actual gas sales contracts we test whether this is the case. To calculate tax incidence we derive demand elasticities, income elasticities and cross price elasticities for natural gas, oil and electricity, for different market segments (households, industry, power generators) in EU countries. Particular focus is on tax incidence in gas markets regulated by incomplete long-term contracts. Based on our findings we discuss normative energy tax issues related to revenue, environmental obligations and security of supply.Energy Markets, incomplete contracts, tax incidence

Faster Drilling with Expercience?

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Economic rents in Norwegian aquaculture

This report is a summary of the findings in from the project “NFR 283312 – FISH TAX: Resource rent and taxation in the Norwegian Fisheries and Aquaculture industries” funded by the Norwegian Research Council SKATT programme. The report consists of three separate papers: Paper 1 “Aquaculture license auctions and inframarginal rents in salmon aquaculture” Paper 2 “Sustainable growth, resource rent and taxes in aquaculture” Paper 3 “Economic rents in salmon aquaculture”publishedVersio

Research-based innovation for sustainable development: the case of aquaculture

Cutting emissions and preserving biodiversity requires innovations and investments at a scale and speed with no historical peacetime precedent. The challenges are complex, with a need for new knowledge and innovation which can address environmental challenges while also accounting for economic and social sustainability. New combinations of knowledge through cross-disciplinary collaboration as well as an unprecedented level of collaboration between academia and society are required. This presents a direct challenge to business schools’ research and innovation strategies, which must shift significantly if they are to make a meaningful contribution. Here, we examine empirical evidence from the sustainability challenges of the aquaculture sector, focusing on interactions between the University of Stavanger Business School and stakeholders in Norwegian aquaculture. We offer examples of how business schools can contribute to the green economic transition through broad stakeholder engagement, responsible innovation activities, and the leveraging of tools and techniques for sustainable business model innovation.publishedVersio

New' and 'old' species meet new seafood market: Russian demand for imported seafood products

A food consumption revolution is taking place in Russia. After decades of severe constraints on food consumption options under the communist regime Russian consumers are now adopting new food products - including seafood products - at a high pace. Since Russian consumers have had limited seafood consumption choices before, the market can be seen as an interesting laboratory for investigating consumer responses to new products that were previously not available. The opening of the Russian economy has lead to a rapid growth in the imports of several species and seafood products. Among imported seafood products are both wild and farmed species. Furthermore, Russian imports include both traditional species such as herring, and "new" species such as pangasius. We analyse Russian monthly import demand data on several seafood products, such as herring, salmon and pangasius, by estimating demand equations. The empirical estimates of demand elasticities are linked to findings from surveys of Russian households to provide an analysis of central trends in Russian seafood consumption

The impact of parasitic sea lice on harvest quantities and sizes of farmed salmon

Sea lice infections are recognized as a primary challenge for both salmon farming and adjacent stocks of wild salmon and sea trout, triggering strict regulations at farm sites and in larger coastal production areas. In 2017 the Norwegian government implemented the Traffic Light System (TLS), where green, yellow, and red lights imply that salmon farmers can raise, maintain, or must reduce production quantities depending on estimated sea lice-induced mortality of wild salmonids. Past research has explored the impacts of sea lice on the growth rate of salmon, indicating a possible link between sea lice numbers and harvest practices. This study evaluates the impact of sea lice on salmon farmers' harvest behavior focusing on production quantities and fish sizes while controlling for market prices of salmon and fish meal. We also investigate whether and to what extent the TLS implementation affects harvest behavior. Our empirical results indicate that farmers tend to harvest marginally faster in response to increasing levels of sea lice and slower during delousing operations. The implementation of the TLS strengthened the negative impacts of delousing operations on harvest quantities. Fish sizes at harvest are negatively associated with sea lice levels and delousing operations, regardless of the implementation of the TLS. Control variables, such as seawater temperature, salmon prices, and fish meal prices, also influence harvest quantities and fish sizes.publishedVersio