ABSTRACT
Energy is critical to the success and advancement of the society. Energy supply is needed for heating, cooling, and lighting our homes, business, and industry. Modern communication facilities in the society function only when consistent energy supply is assured. Since all our modern commercial activities are highly interlinked, we must view the whole as a system of systems (SoS) of economic activities. Lorincz (2008) reminded us that the “thirst for oil and gas won’t be satisfied any time soon.” This is a sentiment that is shared by most people both within and outside the oil and gas industry. It is forecasted that the need to find replacement supplies of oil and gas to match the global demand for energy will continue to encourage massive capital spending in the industry around the world. Much of such investments will be directed at executing multinational projects. Based on the rapid growth of the economies of China and India, the long-term outlook for the oil and gas industry is quite positive. We just have to ensure that projects are planned, organized, controlled, and executed constructively through global alliances. The international market price of crude oil is the most crucial factor determining the consumer-level price for petroleum-based products. This means that the price of gasoline at the pump is mainly determined by the worldwide demand for and supply of crude oil. According to estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA),* the world’s primary energy needs are expected to grow by 55% between 2005 and 2030, with the demand reaching 17.7 billion tonnes of oil equivalent, compared with 11.4 billion tonnes in 2005. The current market of 2012-2013 is already experiencing being on pace with that demand curve. The challenges that oil and gas projects will continue to face fall in the following categories:
• Technical challenges • Managerial challenges • Human resource challenges
Rigorous and disciplined applications of project management tools and techniques can help mitigate these challenges.
