Cultural Challenges in Oil and Gas Industry

INTRODUCTION
Oil and natural gas touch our lives in countless ways every day. Together, they supply more than 60 percent of our nation’s energy. They fuel our cars, heat our homes and cook our food.
But did you know that oil and natural gas also help generate the electricity that powers our daily lives? Or that crude oil supplies the building blocks for everything from dent-resistant car fenders to soft drink bottles to camping equipment?
The oil and gas is truly a global industry. But with time this industry is finding various difficulties in sustaining to its fullest. Yes, it is amidst crisis. The present business environment has posed enormous challenges to the management of businesses in this industry.
The basic problems are:-
  Workforce challenges
      Effect of global recession
      Cultural challenges
    EFFECT OF GLOBAL RECESSION
As the global economy resets nervously, the only certainty is that crude oil prices will remain volatile. After dipping to a low $33/barrel last December, oil prices strengthened dramatically in the second quarter of 2009, peaking at just over $73/barrel in June-faster than many in the industry expected. While higher prices led to much lower but still reasonable earnings in the first six months of 2009, oil companies have cause for concern: if prices rise too fast they could slow the global recovery and stall progress on resetting industry costs. In addition, they face hard investment decisions. On the one hand, they must continue to cut costs without compromising on important areas like maintenance, technology and people development. On the other, they must invest in large-scale capital projects to replace declining assets and increase future revenue growth.
In these circumstances, oil company leaders face tough choices making the right decision at the right time will have huge pay-off for the winners. Get the timing wrong and a company could miss the window of opportunity to secure or improve its... [continues]

Read full essay