The Global Oil & Gas Industry, Revised & Updated 2020
The oil and gas industry is one of the largest, most complex, and most important global industries. The industry touches everyone’s lives with products such as transportation, heating and electricity fuels, asphalt, lubricants, propane, and thousands of petrochemical products from carpets to eyeglasses to clothing. The industry impacts national security, elections, geo-politics, and international conflicts. The prices of crude oil and natural gas are probably the two most closely watched commodity prices in the global economy. In recent years, the industry has seen many tumultuous events, such as the growth in oil and gas production in the United States; sanctions on Russia and Iran; continued technological advances in unconventional oil and gas; ongoing strife in Iraq, Libya, and various other oil-exporting nations; major new discoveries of oil in Guyana and gas in east Africa; the Saudi Aramco IPO; and continued heated debate about climate change and renewable energy. All of this comes amid predictions that the global demand for energy will increase 20% by 2040. evolution
1. In a competitive strategy course with a section on industry analysis
2. In a corporate strategy course as a vehicle for examining vertical integration
3. With oil and gas industry managers in executive education programs
The main objective in using the case is to examine the structure of the industry and its competitive dynamics. Because of the complexity of the industry, the instructor will have to choose a subset of material on which to focus the call discussion.