Oil & Gas

Increasing demands for short-term performance and the changing nature of opportunities for reserve additions are forcing oil companies to rethink their approach to exploration. Which strategies and operating models will reposition exploration as a vehicle for growth?

Current trends in crude oil and refined-product markets have the potential to drive and/or significantly change the economics of heavy-crude upgrading. What are the strategic implications for producers, refiners, and integrated players?

Commercial sales and marketing is a significantly underexploited lever in improving downstream returns. We focus on collaborating with our clients to identify and resolve sources of value leakage within five key levers (pricing, channel, salesforce, branding, innovation) as well as implement solutions through organizational improvements, such as building frontline capabilities. We have client experience in multiple scenarios, a growing number of experts with deep practical experience, a proprietary diagnostic approach to identify key opportunities and provide a basis for program design, as well as a modular toolkit of solutions that can be customized to each client’s unique situation.

What is the future of petroleum retailing for major oil companies? Many are choosing to exit the business in the face of increasing competition, falling margins, and limited retailing skills. Is this shortsighted? Is there a compelling case for re-committing to retail?

Mature assets account for nearly half of the world's production and are an essential component of many portfolios. What can players do to unlock value? What implication does this have for their workforce agenda?

Over the last decade, as many oil and gas markets have opened, there has been a growing "shared" world where both majors and national oil companies (NOCs) compete. What are the implications of this and other trends, and will what it take to win in this new world?

With their focus on maximizing a country's resources rather than on creating shareholder value, NOCs typically face significant barriers in achieving high performance levels. What can they do to improve performance?

We have years of experience helping our clients improve operational performance at their refineries. Ours is an integrated approach that both diagnoses and streamlines operating practices using lean maintenance and optimization tools, and also implements change-management techniques involving mind-sets and behaviors.

We offer a detailed diagnostic to quantify improvement potential, along with targeted improvements that focus on identifying key value drivers and concrete improvement targets and objectives. Other examples include store operations, frontline performance, category management, fuel pricing, channel management, format renewal, launching new formats, and brand repositioning. When working with clients, we use diagnostic tools, guides based on the latest industry intelligence, and client case studies.

Significant value-creation potential exists in upstream petroleum operations. McKinsey has developed a successful approach to holistic, systemic improvement with proven impact. Our work aligns strategy with operating systems and organization, pulling in insights on lean manufacturing and change management.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is becoming increasingly important in regional gas markets. How will it change gas pricing dynamics? How will it impact regional markets and the value chain?