We investigate the economics of coal-to-liquid (CTL) conversion, a polygeneration technology that produces liquid fuels, chemicals, and electricity by coal gasification and Fischer–Tropsch process. CTL is more expensive than extant technologies when producing the same bundle of output. In addition, the significant carbon footprint of CTL may raise environmental concerns. However, as petroleum p...

The aim of the study was to isolate and identify the major cytotoxic principle from plant leaves of Pogostemon quadrifolius (Benth.) and evaluate its antiproliferative potential against human cancer cells. Plant leaves were extracted sequentially with a soxhlet apparatus, using petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol solvents. Petroleum ether and chloroform extracts exhibited antiproliferative...

Technological Change, Depletion and the U.S. Petroleum Industry*** A common claim in the nonrenewable resource literature is that improvements in technology may largely offset the effects of increasing scarcity over time. This study provides perhaps the first empirical evidence on this issue by analyzing the determinants of the average finding cost for additional petroleum in the U.S. over the ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the potential of Musa x paradisiaca (M. x paradisiaca) flower extracts in promoting milk production of lactating rats and its effects on growth of the suckling pups. METHODS Galactagogue activity was evaluated in terms of quantity of milk produced from the rats treated with petroleum ether, ethanol or water extracts of the flower. Lactating rats (n = 5) of Spraque Daw...

OBJECTIVES The antiulcer activity of Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. fruit was evaluated in rats against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage, pylorus ligated (PL) gastric ulcers, and cold restraint-stress (CRS)-induced gastric ulcer models. METHODS Petroleum ether and methanol extracts were administrated orally at the dose of 300 mg/kg, and omeprazole (reference standard) at the dose of 2...

Petroleum exploration and production is an industry that provides researchers with multi-variant challenging “real world” properties. Recently, some petroleum soft computing techniques have gained a greater interest in prediction within the oil industry. This paper is interested in the analysis, classifying, mining and predictions, based on fuzzy as an intelligent system and an intelligent syst...

Alkanes are the major components of crude oil and the most abundant and available carbon and energy sources in reservoirs. Microorganisms are common inhabitants of these environments and may have effective biodegrading strategies, based on specialized enzyme systems and metabolic pathways, as a form to access hydrocarbons as carbon and energy sources. However, the current knowledge of the micro...

A method is described for extracting the petroleum from petroleum-bearing ̄uid inclusions hosted in the diagenetic cements of sedimentary rocks, whilst minimising contamination from petroleum in the pore space. A clean-up technique, involving the addition of extraction standards to the rock prior to analysis, has been developed that allows increased con®dence that the hydrocarbons extracted are...

Unexpected price spikes in petroleum can lead to instability in markets and have a negative economic effect on sectors which rely on petroleum consumption. Sudden rises in the price of petroleum do not have to be long-term to cause negative, cascading impacts across the economy. Firms which make futures purchases or hedge against a higher price during a price spike can become insolvent when the...