Review of Literature on Political Risks to the Operations of Large Oil & Gas Companies and Their Mitigation in Yemen

Abstract

The intention behind this study is to select the most prominent from the political risks for the industry in Yemen and describe the best practices to mitigate them, identify strategic risk and risk management strategies involved in oil and gas industry operations & analyse the effectiveness of oil and gas company's risk response strategies in promoting political stability in its areas of business. The methodology behind identifying the risks and assessing them is the following Risk management according probability impact matrix in analyzing risk factors. A total of 61 factors that might cause risks in oil and gas construction projects were defined through a detailed literature review. Risk factors identified were bureaucratic government system and lengthy project approval procedure; poor design; incompetence of project team; inadequate tendering; late internal approval process from the owner; inadequate project organization structure; improper project feasibility study; inefficient and poor performance of constructors; improper project planning and budgeting; and design changes among others.