Based on time series of crude oil prices (daily spot), this paper analyses price fluctuation with two significant parameters [tau] (speculators' time scales of investment) and [epsilon] (speculators' expectations of return) by using Zipf analysis technique, specifically, by mapping [tau]-returns...

This paper applies pattern matching technique to multi-step prediction of crude oil prices and proposes a new approach: generalized pattern matching based on genetic algorithm (GPMGA), which can be used to forecast future crude oil price based on historical observations. This approach can detect...

To protect the security of energy supply, China is building national strategic petroleum reserve (SPR). We present a dynamic programming model to determine the optimal stockpiling and drawdown strategies for China's SPR under various scenarios, focusing on minimizing the total cost of reserves....

Hydropower plays a major role in the Canadian electricity generation industry. Few attempts have been made, however, to assess the efficiency of hydropower generation in Canada. This paper analyzes the overall efficiency of hydropower generation in Canada from comprehensive viewpoints of...

Estimation has been carried out using GARCH-type models, based on the Generalized Error Distribution (GED), for both the extreme downside and upside Value-at-Risks (VaR) of returns in the WTI and Brent crude oil spot markets. Furthermore, according to a new concept of Granger causality in risk,...