Publications

February 1995 (Revised April 1996)
Case

MW Petroleum Corporation (B)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman, Peter Tufano and Barbara Wall

Amoco Corp. is negotiating to sell a wholly-owned subsidiary, MW Petroleum, to Apache Corp. MW owns large reserves of oil and gas comprising many properties at different stages of engineering, development, and production. The proposed acquisition is a large one for... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Mergers and Acquisitions; Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

March 2008
Supplement

Patel Food and Chemicals Private Limited (C)

By: Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Alok Patel, the founder and chairman of a Gujarat-based, privately held edible oils processor, is considering long-term liquidity opportunities for the company and its investors. He could list the company on one of the Indian exchanges, opt for a trade sale, or acquire... View Details

Keywords: Financial Liquidity; Financial Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Going Public; Opportunities; Chemical Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Gujarat

Find at Harvard

April 2013 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Norway: The Embarrassment of Riches

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Senny Munthe-Kaas

In early 2013, Norway was by many accounts the world’s most developed country; it topped various indices for everything from democracy to happiness, had a comprehensive welfare state, and massive oil revenues endowed it with a substantial, and growing, Sovereign Wealth... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Welfare State; Natural Resources; Internationalization; Dutch Disease; Happiness; Macroeconomics; Energy Sources; Values and Beliefs; Sovereign Finance; Immigration; Welfare; Energy Industry; Norway

22 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 22

organizational patterns that emerge when actionable transparency allows designers to "break the mirror." Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-058.pdf The Empire Struck Back: The Mexican Oil Expropriation of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Mar 2016
Video

Video: Realizing America's Unconventional Energy Opportunity

Professor Michael E. Porter discusses the economic benefits from North America's unconventional oil and gas energy resources. Professor Porter discusses the unconstructive debate around these resources, and what should be done to fully... View Details

08 Sep 2020
Blog Post

2+2 Where Are They Now Spotlight: Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes (MBA 2017)

to work in industry in order to develop my competence as an engineer, but I also knew that I wanted to transition out of big business after achieving that competency and found a company. The HBS 2+2 process gave me that roadmap to get trained up as an engineer, get... View Details

July 1993 (Revised September 1995)
Supplement

Block 16: Ecuadorian Government's Perspective

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Susan E.A. Hall

Supplements Block 16: Conoco's Green Oil Strategy (A). Provides the government perspective on Conoco's Ecuadorian strategy. Designed to be distributed to students who will be playing the role of Ecuadorian government officials. View Details

Keywords: Policy; Business or Company Management; Resource Allocation; Marketing Strategy; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Perspective; Corporate Strategy

09 Jul 2020
Video

Sylvia Escovar

Sylvia Escovar, the President of the Colombia-based oil and gas distribution company Terpel, discusses how the firm responded to the major cultural differences between countries in Latin America

View Details

March 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth about $4.4 million at the time) in... View Details

February 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Brinkerhoff International, Inc. (A)

Presents a study of two oil rigs and their team relationships within a context of dissension in lower management ranks and a president who is trying to expand the business in a changing economy. View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Energy Sources; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

April 2021
Teaching Note

GreenFire Energy, 2020: Geothermal Innovation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In June 2020, after ten years of effort, GreenFire Energy Inc. (GreenFire) demonstrated its new geothermal electricity generation technology, ECO2G™. While conventional geothermal electricity only supplied 0.5% of US demand, the new technology promised to increase this... View Details

Keywords: Green Energy; Geothermal; Entrepreneur; Renewables; Geothermal Electricity; Green Technology; Renewable Energy; Energy Generation; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Commercialization

Video

Mohammed Al Barwani

Mohammed Al Barwani, founder of the Oman-based diversified group MB Holding Company, discusses the diversification of his oil production and services companies into other industries ranging from biotechnology... View Details

May 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Case

The Offshore Drilling Industry in 2011

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Kenneth Corts and Joseph McElroy

After booming in 2007 and early 2008, the offshore drilling industry slumps in 2009. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates--the prices paid for a rig's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Metals and Minerals; Demand and Consumers; Price; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Mining; Mining Industry; Energy Industry

10 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Unobserved State Fragility and the Political Transfer Problem

Keywords: by Faisal Z. Ahmed & Eric Werker

July 1993 (Revised September 1995)
Supplement

Block 16: Environmental Groups' Perspectives

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Susan E.A. Hall

Supplements Block 16: Conoco's Green Oil Strategy (A). Provides the environmental groups' perspective on Conoco's Ecuadorian strategy. Designed to be distributed to students who will be playing the role of Ecuadorian environmentalists. View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Marketing Strategy; Natural Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Perspective; Corporate Strategy

12 Jun 2015
News

Report: In bitter energy debate, nobody wins

January 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Accounting for Catastrophes: BP PLC and Union Carbide Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

The IASB and FASB propose new contingency loss recognition, measurement, and disclosure rules (A case). The B and C cases apply these proposals to British Petroleum's Mexican Gulf oil spill and Union Carbide's Bhophal gas discharge. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; International Accounting; Trade; International Finance; Standards; Strength and Weakness; Natural Disasters; Crisis Management; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Industry; India