THE JOURNAL OF ENERGY

AND DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACTS FOR

VOLUME 41,

NO. 2

Spring 2016

I C E E D
The Journal of Energy and Development
volume 41, number 2, spring 2016 (copyright 2016)

Sturla Horpestad Tjaaland, Sjur Westgaard, Petter Osmundsen, and Stein Frydenberg, “Oil and
Gas Risk Factor Sensitivities for U.S. Energy Companies,” The Journal of Energy and Development,
volume 41, number 2 (spring 2016, copyright 2016), pp. 135-174.

Abstract:
This study examines whether and to what extent oil and gas price fluctuations affect oil and gas
company stock returns. By using monthly data observations in the period January 2000 to February 2015,
results from time-series regressions show that crude oil, natural gas, and the market factor have
significant impacts on stock price returns in our sample of 50 U.S. oil and gas companies and six royalty
trusts. We find that oil- and gas-producing companies have the highest exposure to oil and gas price
fluctuations and that royalty trusts maintain the exposure level of their operating counterparts. An increase
in the general stock market, as well as oil and gas price factors, will increase the return to U.S. oil and gas
stock prices and royalty trusts. Furthermore, we sort the data sample in sub-sectors and sub-periods to
find that the risk factor sensitivities vary substantially, dependent on both the pricing environment and
between the sub-sectors. The special sub-period from 2003 to 2008 was found to have a more substantial
impact on oil and gas company returns. Pipeline companies show little exposure to oil and gas price
fluctuations.

Keywords: oil and gas sensitivities, risk exposure, oil and gas sector

Adel Ben Youssef, Laurence Lannes, Christophe Rault, and Agnès Soucat, “Energy Consumption
and Health Outcomes in Africa,” The Journal of Energy and Development, volume 41, number 2
(spring 2016, copyright 2016), pp. 175-200.

Abstract:
We examine causal links between energy consumption and health indicators (mortality rate under 5,
life expectancy, greenhouse effect, and government expenditure per capita) for a sample of 16 African
countries over the period 1971-2010 (according to availability of national data). The 16 African nations
are Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco,
Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia. We use the panel-data
approach of Kónya (2006) based on a seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) system and Wald tests with
country-specific bootstrap critical values. Our results show that health and energy consumption are
strongly linked in Africa. Unilateral causality is found from energy consumption to life expectancy and
children under-5 mortality for Senegal, Morocco, Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Algeria,
Egypt, and South Africa. At the same time, we found a bilateral causality between energy consumption
and health indicators in Nigeria. In particular, our findings suggest that electricity consumption Granger
causes health outcomes for several African countries.

Keywords: energy consumption, electricity, health, VAR, Africa, Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South
Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia
Chad R. Miller and Joel F. Bolton, “Economic Development Strategies for Fracking: The Case of
the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Play,” The Journal of Energy and Development, volume 41, number 2
(spring 2016, copyright 2016), pp. 201-222.

Abstract:
Innovations in drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked massive fossil fuels reserves from shale
regions that are often in rural economically distressed communities. These technological advances in oil
and gas production have sparked cyclical economic booms and created negative public externalities in
extraction regions. Despite a history that can be traced back to the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing was not
used extensively until the early 2000s, so the public policy implications have not been thoroughly
researched. In particular, the implications for economic developers are not well understood. Based on
conversations with economic development practitioners, a number of lessons on the shale economy for
local/regional economic developers have been identified. This research empirically examines these
lessons in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale region of Mississippi through key informant interviews and
examination of secondary data. Findings are that the general lessons for economic developers are useful,
but specific tactics need to be further developed. It is recommended that strategic business cycle
management principles be adopted for economic development administration.

Keywords: hydraulic fracturing, sustainable development, managing business cycles, economic

development, rural development, Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Mississippi

Fakhri Issaoui, Hassen Toumi, and Wassim Touili, “The Effects of Carbon Dioxide Emissions on
Economic Growth, Urbanization, and Welfare: Application to Countries in the Middle East and
North Africa,” The Journal of Energy and Development, volume 41, number 2 (spring 2016,
copyright 2016), pp. 223-252.

Abstract:
This paper investigates the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on per-capita growth, energy
consumption, life expectancy, and urbanization in Middle Eastern and North African countries (Algeria,
Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, and Yemen) from
1990 to 2010. The empirical results have covered two time horizons: the short and long term. In the short
term, we noticed for all countries of our sample that CO2 emissions are explained by energy consumption
and economic growth per capita, which exert positive and significant effects. However, we observed that
CO2 emissions are always positively influenced by energy consumption and negatively influenced by life
expectancy. Moreover, the effect of income per capita is negative and significant, which means that the
long-term economic strategy of these countries is based on activities and non-polluting sectors. In other
words, the growth-generating economic potential is located in non-polluting sectors and is not a generator
of greenhouse gas.

Keywords: environmental Kuznets curve, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, growth,
Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, Morocco, Qatar, Tunisia, and Yemen
Guy Dabi Gab-Leyba and Bertrand Laporte, “Oil Contracts, Progressive Taxation, and
Government Take in the Context of Uncertainty in Crude Oil Prices: The Case of Chad,” The
Journal of Energy and Development, volume 41, number 2 (spring 2016, copyright 2016), pp. 253-
278.

Abstract:
Concession contracts (CCs) and production sharing contracts (PSCs) have quite different implications
for government take and the properties of the tax system, such as progressivity. In general, taxation via
CCs introduces significant distortions in activity, particularly due to the balance of royalties, which tax
production irrespective of the profitability of the project. So CCs are normally regressive while PSCs are
normally progressive, because PSC taxation depends more directly on the profitability of the project.
Chad has the distinction of having introduced PSCs in the 2007 Chad oil code, while maintaining a
royalty on production. Despite this feature, we show with a cash flow model and Monte Carlo simulations
that the application of the 2007 oil code introduced more progressivity into taxation. This feature is
particularly interesting in the current context of falling crude oil prices because it maintains a favorable
tax regime for exploration and exploitation by multinational oil companies.

Keywords: government take, oil, taxation, Monte Carlo simulation, uncertainty, Chad