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
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
