Publications

September 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

The Future of Iraq Project (A)

By: Noel Maurer and Sogomon Tarontsi

In March 2009, the government of Iraq decided to hold its first oil field auctions. The auctions were for service contracts on the country's southern oil fields; the winner would obtain the right to produce oil above a certain target for a fixed fee. The bidders... View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Foreign Direct Investment; Policy; Auctions; Production; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Iraq

November 2013
Article

The Performance of Corporate Alliances: Evidence from Oil and Gas Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

By: John Beshears

I use data on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to measure how a corporate alliance—a group of firms that jointly develops an offshore tract—performs relative to a solo firm. I employ a regression discontinuity strategy based on bids in first-price sealed-bid... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Form; Corporate Alliances; Oil And Gas Production; Lease Auctions; Regression Discontinuity; Alliances; Organizational Structure; Auctions; Performance; Energy Sources; Leasing; Energy Industry

July 1993 (Revised September 1995)
Supplement

Block 16: Conoco's "Green" Oil Strategy (B)

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

Presents a continuation of the (A) case. New legal and social issues arise. View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Energy Industry

January 2012
Background Note

The Market for Energy: Scale, Cost, Security and the Environment (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

Keywords: Energy; Markets; Energy Industry

1985
Other Unpublished Work

The Shorham Nuclear Power Plant (A)- HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Energy; Management; Energy Industry; New York (state, US)

January 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

PetroChina

By: Alexander Dyck, Yasheng Huang and David Lane

In March 2000, plans for the initial public offering of shares in PetroChina were proceeding on schedule, and institutional investors were evaluating the deal. PetroChina was China's largest oil and gas company and an attractive play on China's continued economic... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; China

spring 1990
Book Review

Review of Technology and Transformation in the American Electric Utility Industry, by Richard F. Hirsh

By: Willis Emmons

Keywords: Information Technology; Transformation; Energy; Energy Industry; United States

January 2001 (Revised January 2003)
Case

E-Hub Nigeria (A)

Explores the possibility of launching an e-procurement firm to serve the Nigerian oil and gas sector. Recent HBS graduate, Fola Ogunsiakan, has identified a potential entrepreneurial opportunity, but faces several significant obstacles to success. Considers market... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Nigeria

February 2009
Article

GHG Trading Framework for the U.S. Biofuels Sector

By: Subbu Kumarappan and Satish V. Joshi

Substitution of petroleum fuels with biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel has been shown to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These GHG reductions can be traded in the emerging carbon markets, and methodologies for quantifying and trading are still being... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; United States

Read Now

May 2021
Case

Endesa Chile: Raising the Ralco Dam (Synopsis)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn

This is a short synopsis of both the A & B cases (906-014 and 906-015). View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Projects; Energy Industry; Chile

July 2020 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Mr. Five Percent: Calouste Gulbenkian and the Origins of Global Oil

By: Geoffrey Jones and Yazeed Al-Rashed

This case describes the business career of Calouste Gulbenkian, a skilled intermediary who was able to secure 5 percent of a vast oil concession covering much of the Middle East that was signed in 1928. Gulbenkian was an ethnic Armenian born in the Ottoman Empire,... View Details

Keywords: Oil; Globalization; Energy Sources; History; Biography; Energy Industry; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

February 2016 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Suncor and the Future of Oil Sands

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suncor, Canada's largest producer of "oil sands," faces a host of issues involving prices, costs, and the environment. The Government of Canada recently put an explicit limit on carbon emissions from oil sands and a price on carbon. Suncor, which produces more than... View Details

Keywords: Oil Sands; Energy; Price; Operations; Cost; Energy Industry; Canada

1981
Chapter

The Diffusion of Residential Solar Equipment in California

By: D. A. Leonard

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; California

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

energy entrepreneurship and demand management, moderated by Professor Forest Reinhardt, experts focused on two main problems: buildings in general are far too inefficient, and people in general are clueless about their individual... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

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

1979
Book

Energy: The Next Twenty Years

By: Robert B. Stobaugh

Keywords: Energy; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Industry

06 Dec 2021
News

New Wave

electricity—enough to power approximately 150 households. The turbines are the spinning heart of the Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project, an initiative undertaken by Verdant Power, the startup that Smith cofounded in 2000 to... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Chris Sorensen

May 2009 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Areva

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

Areva, the world's market leader in civilian nuclear power, was positioned to take advantage of the resurgence of nuclear power. However, three issues clouded the positive outlook: (1) a 1.7 billion euro loss on the construction of the first next generation nuclear... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Statements; Energy Generation; Cash Flow; Investment; Energy Industry; Europe