Paper Hedging Against Cyclical Crude Oil Price Fluctuations: Cost Optimization Initiatives for the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry

Abstract

This paper discusses the effect of crude oil price fluctuation on the personnel, projects and finances of oil & gas exploration and producing companies, as well as, the cost optimization efforts carried out during the era of lowcrude oil price. Following investigation and historical data, it is evident that crude oil price fluctuation is cyclical in nature. To make their product available for sale, oil & gas organizations, at the peak of the crude oil cycle engage in high operating-cost systems. With drastic fall in the price of the product, as experienced between July 2014 and February 2015, such organizations were faced with the challenge of continuing production at a non-profitable cost. Crude oil price fall, have always had a big negative impact on the personnel, projects and operations of organizations in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. For personnel, the most prevalent impact was the loss of jobs, for company operations it was the reduction in revenue (income) for the companies and for projects it was the delay or cancellation of projects earlier considered profitable. These losses or delay of projects led to reduction in product portfolio and/or divestments for the organizations involved. For the Nigerian oil and gas companies to adapt to the economic changes occasioned by the change in price, several measures have been proposed which include individual companies initiating and utilizing procedures that ensure good costing of projects, benchmarking of relevant prices and promoting good costing practices and proper management of balance sheet and adhering strongly to sustainable OPEX and CAPEX levels, to ensure opportunities are identified and utilized. The researchers asserts that crude oil price fall with its attendant negative impact could be scientifically explained. A quantitative research methodology has been applied in the study of this topic. Using online survey, information has been gathered from respondents from six different oil and gas companies indicating their demography, individual experience, companies experience and project experience during the last crude oil price fall (2014 -2017). Secondary data obtained from historical records helped to show the influence of crude price slump on the financial health status of oil and gas exploration and producing companies. The data also helped to confirm the primary data received in the online survey.