The private oil companies : from consolidation to growth

At the time when the <em>Oxford Energy Forum</em> was first published the business environment in which the private oil companies operated was very different to today. Political barriers effectively ruled out investment in most OPEC countries as well as in countries under communist rule....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Arnott, R
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Institute for Energy Studies 2005
Description
Summary:At the time when the <em>Oxford Energy Forum</em> was first published the business environment in which the private oil companies operated was very different to today. Political barriers effectively ruled out investment in most OPEC countries as well as in countries under communist rule. And until the 1990s, technological barriers prevented companies from exploiting reserves in deepwater reservoirs. Smaller niche players may have been able to enter politically sensitive areas, but they lacked the financial resources to take on either the large-scale development projects in those countries or the risks involved with frontier technology.