United Kingdom Offshore Oil and Gas Industry - Essay Example

Conversely, the United Kingdom’s primary energy sources have come from the offshore oil and gas industry. Indeed, nearly 99% of the oil and gas produced in the United Kingdom is produced from offshore sources ("House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee," 2010). This industry has engendered significant competition. Implementing Porter’s diamond model, this research investigates this industry in terms of uncertainty, complexity, and the dynamics of the business environment. Investigating the United Kingdom’s offshore oil and gas industry poses a number of challenges, perhaps most prominently the expansive nature of the industry.

In gaining an overarching perspective on competitiveness in United Kingdom oil and gas industry one of the primary determinants is the United Nations Global Competitiveness Report. While this report does not directly examine the dynamics of United Kingdom offshore oil, it considers macro-competitiveness indicators that are closely coupled with notions of environmental velocity. In this context of understanding, it’s indicated that in recent years the United Kingdom has moved up in rankings of competitiveness, now positioned at 10th globally (The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, 2011). . A general perusal of media accounts of the UK offshore oil and gas industry demonstrates strong innovation in terms of fracking methods that, although garnering environmental criticism, have been noted to show greater methods of productivity and efficiency (Lundgren 2011).

This is also reflected in the industry development of the Industry Technology Facilitator that specifically seeks engineering innovation throughout the industry. The culmination of these statistical and qualitative indicators of competitiveness demonstrates that the United Kingdom’s offshore oil and gas industry relative to the global energy business environment is dynamic and high velocity. While global competitiveness indicators provide strong insight into macro-industry elements, further conceptual models are necessary for investigating micro-industry concerns.

One of the most seminal and applicable models for this mode of investigation is Porter’s diamond model. Porter’s model investigates organizational competitiveness in terms of a series of factors of competitive advantage (Porter 2012). One of the most prominent considerations within this conceptual framework is that of governmental policies. The offshore oil and gas industry poses a number of environmental challenges that the United Kingdom government regularly must consider. A recent report issued by the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee investigated many such aspects of environmental regulation.

To a large extent it’s understood that the government has placed a high emphasis on moving to decarbonize the UK economy as a means of meeting the demands of climate change. Still, these measures are noted to occur in a