Why major oil and gas projects go wrong
The underlying causes of disruptions and disputes could be moderated by improving contracts, audits and controls
Oil and gas projects are complex, usually large-scale and involve integrating complicated supply chains and diverse technologies. But this complexity does not explain the delays, disruption, defects, lost productivity and higher costs that afflict so many of these construction and engineering projects. Within the world’s largest database of real-life claims and disputes, HKA analysed 114 oil and gas projects with a capex value of US$603.7 billion from the last two years to identify and rank the underlying causes (see table). The findings from HKA’s CRUX Insight 2019 Global Market Sector Analysis found change in scope to be the dominant causation factor in this and the other five sectors surv

Also in this section
14 March 2025
Gas production slumped to an eight-year low in 2024, but new discoveries and partnership with Cyprus paint a more positive outlook
13 March 2025
Gas will become a more important part of the energy mix longer-term, raising the alarm for much-need investment as supply struggles to keep up with demand
13 March 2025
The spectre of Saudi Arabia’s 2020 market share strategy haunts a suffering OPEC+ as Trump upends the energy world
12 March 2025
Petronas-Eni eyes joint venture to prioritise key gas developments, with huge opportunities for growth in Indonesia and a steady Malaysia portfolio