Strategic Planning for the Oil and Gas Industry Examination

Report
December 2021

Course Leader’s Report

A very small cohort of candidates, all of whom passed comfortably. The marks awarded were all
fairly similar as witnessed by the small SD of4.71.

Question One asked students to analyse the case company and required a good understanding of
financial calculations, strategic models and the process model. Most candidates showed a good
understanding of the financial calculations and the majority brought in a good range of models. The
key theme of the question was that the case company had started an operation in Africa and made
assumptions that the condition in this market would be similar to their home market in the US,
which they were not. Most candidates understood this generally well.

Question Two asked the student to discuss elements of the oil market and also provide a value chain
analysis of BP. Generally, the value chain was done well, but the knowledge of the oil business was
rather limited, which is a little concerning given the theme of the paper.

Question Three asked students to consider which candidate they would choose for a senior role.
One had a “hands on” background, the other was much more strategic in their thinking.
Interestingly, most students decided on the “hands on” person and did not really appreciate the
strategic knowledge.