پژوهشنامه اقتصاد انرژی ایران
پیاپی 41 (زمستان 1400)

Corruption and political risk are important factors affecting the economies that can affect various aspects of people's lives. On the other hand, one of the important economic indicators that shows the intensity of energy consumption, and in other words, the amount of energy consumption in each country, is the energy intensity. Energy intensity is a crucial indicator by which we can understand the trend of changing energy efficiency in different years. Given the importance of this issue, the present study examines the effect of corruption and political risk along with other factors on the energy intensity of selected countries in the Mena region, including Iran, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE using by a panel data model for 2003 to 2019. The results show that corruption, political risk, and factors such as good governance, foreign investment, and human development are important. Therefore, improving education and awareness by reducing corruption and political risk can lead to better implementation of energy efficiency programs.

GDP is one of the factors affecting energy consumption and climate change. This study examines the impact of GDP on energy consumption in OPEC countries in two stages. In the first stage, based on the panel causality test, the causal relationship between GDP and energy consumption was investigated, and the results indicate a one-way causal relationship from GDP to energy consumption. In the second stage, using a dynamic panel threshold regression model, this study investigated the role of energy intensity (one of the important indicators of energy efficiency) in the relationship between energy consumption and the GDP of OPEC countries. The results showed that at values above the threshold level of energy intensity (7.27), GDP significantly increases energy consumption, while at values below this level, GDP has a positive and non-significant effect on energy consumption. Without considering the control variables, at values above the threshold level of energy intensity (6.91), GDP significantly increases energy consumption, while at values below this level, GDP has a negative and non-significant effect on energy consumption. In energy and environmental policy-making, paying attention to energy intensity can lead to sustainable economic growth. Also, the results of this study are related to the Kuznets Environmental Curve Hypothesis; at low-intensity energy levels, increased GDP does not necessarily lead to environmental damage.

Attention to water resources and consumption in Iran's industrial sector is important due to the existence of severe tensions in the country's water resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the virtual water trade in the oil industry of Iran. For this purpose, the technical-basic approach has been used to measure virtual water and the special water demand and virtual water trade of Iran's oil sector has been calculated from 1978 to 2019. The results show that due to the high volume of oil exports, Iran is a net exporter of virtual water. The amount of water consumed in the oil industry and the process of extraction and production of crude oil in the years under review averaged 594 million cubic meters per year and the amount of virtual water that left the country following the export of crude oil in these years averaged 356 million cubic meters per year. Also, the export value of virtual water in the oil sector has a value of 1838 thousand Rials per cubic meter. To manage the country's water resources and the leading crises in this sector of the industry, it is possible to greatly increase water efficiency in this sector by modifying production processes and updating equipment, facilities, and methods used to optimally consume water in this sector.
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The purpose of this study is to compare the economic efficiency of Iran's petroleum contracts, buyback contracts, and production-sharing contracts. This study also determined the optimum path for production and drilling operations in the Yadavaran oil field which has special importance because it is a joint field with Iraq. It was estimated using real field data and the SQP algorithm by MATLAB software. First, the objective function, the constraints of each contract model, and the cost function are defined and expressed based on field data. For the objective function, the oil price is determined based on the reference price scenario and based on the forecast of the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Cao et al (2009) 's cost function model is also modified by using historical field data (first development phase data) to be applied to the study field. The results show that the most efficient oil contract is the Iran petroleum contract, with a low floor for capital costs and no limit to the number of drilled wells. it was proved that the buyback contract with the ceiling of capital costs incompatible with the recovery coefficient has recorded the lowest efficiency. Also, the Iran petroleum contract can be a good alternative to the buyback contract, because it can well solve the problems of the buyback contract, especially for joint oil fields where the priority of the objective function of the maximum cumulative production over the objective function of the maximum present value of the total profit is more desirable.

The price of crude oil is one of the most important indicators of the global economy, which is monitored by policymakers, producers, consumers, and participants in financial markets. Oil prices are changing course depending on economic conditions, which is why it is so volatile. The knowledge of researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders about the impact of crises on the oil market provides better control over its negative consequences. Studies show that as a result of various crises, the Volatility Persistence of the oil market is very high. Therefore, it makes sense to consider the hypothesis of a unit root in the Volatility shocks of this market. In the present study, the long-term Volatility Persistence shocks due to the Covid-19 epidemic crisis in the Brent and WTI oil markets, which are the two criteria for determining global oil prices, are investigated using a test proposed by Lee and Yu (2010). The results of this study indicate the existence of a unit root in oil market turbulence. Therefore, the oil market and the economic climate are long-term affected by the effects of this crisis. This can have a significant impact on the revenues of exporting countries and investors in the crude oil sector. Thus, market players and governments need to assess the consequences of this crisis more carefully

Today, many risks, including economic, financial, and political ones, threaten the economies of countries. On the other hand, governments try to manage the negative consequences and neutralize or minimize their impact on the economy. A review of the situation shows that most underdeveloped and developing countries, especially those rich in natural resources (resource rents), have been severely affected by these internal and external shocks (resource curse) due to their high dependence on oil revenues; in contrast, developed countries have suffered less by adopting appropriate policies. The purpose of this study is to construct and introduce a composite resource curse vulnerability index and then investigate the impact of each of the economic, financial, and political risks on the resource curse vulnerability index. Therefore, using the latest available data, the econometric approach of panel data was performed for 14 selected countries in the Mena region from 2005 to 2018. Results indicate an inverse and significant relationship between independent variable risks on the dependent variable (resource curse vulnerability index), which confirms the research hypotheses.