Publications

June 2011
Article

The BP Oil Spill as a Cultural Anomaly?: Institutional Context, Conflict, and Change

By: Andrew J. Hoffman and P. Devereaux Jennings

This article argues that the BP Oil Spill is, potentially, a “cultural anomaly” for institutional changes in environmental management and fossil fuel production. The problem as defined by the spill’s context, the potential solutions provided by the competing logics in... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Environmental Management; Pollutants; Energy Industry

June 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

White Nights and Polar Lights: Investing in the Russian Oil Industry

By: Debora L. Spar

In the latter half of the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet empire created an unprecedented opportunity for Western businesses. Among those most attracted were the oil firms, who rushed to investigate Russia's vast petroleum reserves. But, as they soon discovered,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Market Entry and Exit; Foreign Direct Investment; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Russia

March 2005 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Ocean & Oil Holdings and the Leveraged Buyout of Agip Nigeria (A)

In 2001, a Nigerian holding company was deciding how much to pay for a major Nigerian oil marketing firm. Explores the challenges facing a fast-growing, leveraged buyout firm operating in a global economy but constrained by imperfect local financial and legal... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Emerging Markets; Nigeria

January 2004 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Weetman Pearson and the Mexican Oil Industry (B)

By: Geoffrey Jones and Lisa Bud-Freirman

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business History; Entrepreneurship; Multinational Firms and Management; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; United Kingdom; Mexico; Arizona

2010
Working Paper

The Empire Struck Back: The Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938 Reconsidered

By: Noel Maurer

The Mexican expropriation of 1938 was the first large-scale non-Communist expropriation of foreign-owned natural resource assets. The literature generally makes three assertions: the U.S. government did not fully back the companies, Mexico did not fully compensate them... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Governance Controls; Business History; Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Energy Industry; Mexico; United States

Read Now

September 2011
Article

The Empire Struck Back: Sanctions and Compensation in the Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938

By: Noel Maurer

The Mexican expropriation of 1938 was the first large-scale non-Communist expropriation of foreign-owned natural resource assets. The literature makes three assertions: the U.S. did not fully back the companies, Mexico did not fully compensate them for the value of... View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Assets; Value; Motivation and Incentives; Government and Politics; Strategy; Interests; Revenue; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; Mexico; United States

September 2015
Teaching Note

Eco7: Launching a New Motor Oil (Brief Case)

By: John A. Quelch and Sunru Yong

21 Mar 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Voluntary, Self-Regulatory, and Mandatory Disclosure of Oil and Gas Company Payments to Foreign Governments

Keywords: by Paul M. Healy and George Serafeim; Energy

December 1983
Case

Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil Leases (A)

March 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Golden Agri-Resources and the Challenge of Sustainable Palm Oil

By: Mattias Fibiger and Adina Wong

March 2023
Teaching Note

Mossadeq’s Gambit: The US, UK, and Iranian Oil Nationalization

By: Jeremy Friedman

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 722-065. View Details

2025
Working Paper

Methane Abatement Costs in the Oil and Gas Industry: Survey and Synthesis

By: Joseph E. Aldy, Forest Reinhardt and Robert N. Stavins

There is growing recognition of the relative importance of anthropogenic emissions of methane as a contributor to global climate change. An important source of such emissions in some countries, including the United States, is the oil and gas (O&G) sector. This points... View Details

Keywords: Emission Reduction; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Pollutants; Energy Industry

Register to Read

February 1979 (Revised September 1980)
Case

Gulf Oil Corp. and the United States Government (A)

By: J. Ronald Fox and Allan Grey

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry

July 2011
Teaching Note

Asian Agri and the Future of Palm Oil (TN)

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Teaching Note for 511015. View Details

Keywords: Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Indonesia; Malaysia

February 1979
Case

Gulf Oil Corp. and the United States Government (B)

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Energy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; United States

December 2005 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

BP and the Consolidation of the Oil Industry: Supplement

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Nazli Uludere

Keywords: Energy Industry

December 1983
Supplement

Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil Leases (B)

April 1984 (Revised August 1995)
Teaching Note

Standard Oil Co.: Combination, Consolidation, and Integration, Teaching Note

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Energy Industry

August 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Background Note

Oil: History, Present and Future

By: Jurgen Weiss

This background note is intended to provide context for a discussion of the strategies for big integrated oil companies in light of both oil’s current role in the global energy system and the uncertainty about changes going forward. View Details

Keywords: Oil; Energy Markets; Oil Prices; Oil Companies; Decarbonization; Non-Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries