The global business environment's changes - Essay Example

The global business environments changes Global business environment for supermajors The oil industry in the 1950s were dominated by the big seven players namely, Royal Dutch Shell, Gulf Oil, Mobil, Esso, BP, SoCal, BP, Texaco. This was a happy a situation for the oil super-majors and the demand for oil was ever increasing. The economic liberalization policies and the expansion of economy led to the shift of power in oil exploration and distribution from the hands of the super-majors to other medium sized players with the governments also holding a considerable stake in the oil industry.

The oil sector which played an important part in attaining comparative advantage led to the intervention of the national governments in holding part or full stake of the oil industry in various countries (Paul, 2006). This has brought about changes in the stake holding pattern. Almost 85% of the oil reserves were held by the super-majors in 1950s and the current scenario exhibits that 90% of the oil reserves are held by the national oil companies.Future challengesThe worldwide economic expansion and the growth of the emerging economies have led to the increase in customer base in the automobile markets, increasing trade across the oceans and skies, increasing number of air traffic.

Due to this, the demand for oil is likely to increase enormously in the next twenty years. The use of advanced technologies in oil exploration and distribution in order to meet the increasing demand has led to the decrease in the supply level of available oil reserves. Thus the major player would need to look into the possible usages of natural gas, etc as substitute sources of energy in order to meet the future demand of oil.ReferencesPaul, J. (2006). Business Environment. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.