Assignment Task

Your assignment task is to research the reasons and justification behind host

governments moving away from Concessions and replacing with PSAs/PSCs, and why

IOCs have accepted such a dramatic change in their own share and profits from

Exploration and Production activity in resource-rich countries.

In a 2,000-word Essay you should outline the fundamental differences between the

Concession systems and PSA/PSC systems, and the rationale behind producer

countries favouring the greater economic rentals they receive through PSAs/PSCs.

Discuss why host governments have succeeded in extracting more money from usually

IOCs, and why, faced with such a change in finances, IOCs have continued to explore

for, and exploit mineral, assets now their financial share of the profits has been

seriously reduced.

Your own interpretations and conclusions from your researches are fundamental.

Supporting your own arguments in a robust and objective manner will qualify for better

marks than a simple re-statement of the data and opinion found in the research. This

should be a high-level review; the allowed word count is a deliberate constraint, so

make sure you write a “rounded” essay, and do not discuss in too much detail.

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