With rising global demand, volatile prices and increasingly strict environmental regulations, the oil and gas industry faces tough issues to their supply chain processes. As the industry is faced with more uncertainty, and global supply chain disruptions, it’s harder for organisations within the oil and gas supply chain to predict for the future, and in turn they must focus on the challenges facing them today.
Poll results
In our most recent LinkedIn poll, we asked our social media followers what they thought the biggest supply chain issue impacting the oil & gas industries was in 2022.
Oil and gas industry supply chain issues: what we found
Environmental challenges
55% of respondents highlighted environmental challenges as the biggest impact to the supply chain in 2022, making it the highest ranked result.
The oil and gas industry is a major consumer of water and energy resources, and therefore is subject to strict environmental standards. This constrains them to rethink extraction, production and distribution methods in order to obtain or maintain their licence to operate. They also have to provide guarantees and ensure transparency in the environmental management of their activities.
In areas where water shortages are becoming more frequent and where tackling air pollution is a major issue, environmental standards are becoming more strict.
Industry and government regulations
27% of respondents selected industry and government regulations as the thing that would impact the supply chain of the oil and gas industries this year, making it the second highest ranked option.
As the climate crisis becomes an increasingly pressing issue, organisations in this sector face pressure from governments to take significant steps in recusing their carbon footprint. Due to the media attention the industry receives, regulations are often created or changed yearly, meaning organisations have to invest a lot of time and money into ensuring they are always compliant. Over the next few years the organisations will have to understand how to accelerate the energy transition, this could impact the whole supply chain, as producers seek to invest more in renewables which oilfield service companies begin to diversify their offerings to cater to the shifting landscape.
Capacity concerns
9% selected capacity concerns as the biggest oil and gas industry supply chain issue in 2022.
Over the last few years, to help insulate the market from risks of supply disruptions there has been diversity of supply, higher levels of global spare capacity and the expansion of strategic petroleum reserves. However, as the OPEC+ spare capacity poised to fall to fresh lows this year, the market buffer could not be effective in shielding the market from outages.
Autre
Finally, 9% selected ‘other’ as the greatest challenge.
‘Other’ highlights anything not listed above, one area that the 9% of respondents could be focusing on is attracting talent. Many countries across the global workforce are facing labour shortages which have stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic. Even before this, attracting high-quality talent in the oil and gas industry was a challenge. The right employee can streamline the procurement process, helping support supply chains and implementing changes that can improve business, whereas the wrong employees or contractors can end up contributing to issues, creating delays and interruptions.
More information
B2BE’s experience in the supply chain sector allows our customers to build, expand and adapt successfully, enabling greater effectiveness. To engage with B2BE and offer feedback on what matters most to you and your business, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and across social media. You can also vote in our latest LinkedIn poll. If you’d like to discuss your supply chain strategy, get in touch with us.