Decision Making in the Petroleum Industry in Africa: Criteria, Time, and Relationships

Decision making is a multidimensional activity. Small and medium-sized petroleum exploration companies operating in Africa have their nuances. This exploratory case study looks at petroleum companies to determine how the decision-makers make decisions and the impact of these decisions. Using eight in-depth interviews, three themes emerged: 1) establishing criteria for selecting an area to explore is a vital part of decision making and stems from a clear corporate strategy, 2) timing of making decisions seems to be the most important criteria in making decisions for petroleum companies as it has the greatest impact on projects being pursued, 3) relationships the companies have, are required to have, or plan to have with other companies or governments threads all decision making. Having a mutually beneficial relationship with partners helps to make decision making easier. A company's continued existence and ability to pursue its corporate strategy is considered a successful decision. Traditional views of decisions on a project-by-project basis may not be appreciating the full picture.