Page 4 - Iscar Article 2_2017

Oil & Gas
Industry
Overcoming the Crisis
Following a long period of elevated activity
driven by high prices, the global oil & gas
industry recently experienced a time of
extreme change.
The changes in economic growth, combined
with OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries)'s decision at the end of
2014 not to reduce production, ultimately led
to a drastic drop in the price of oil a year
later - to under US$40 per barrel.
The effects on oil and gas producers were
dramatic and many existing projects began to
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make little or no economic sense. Countless
companies reduced their expenditure in order
to help maintain profitability and assist in curtailing
losses. Many major projects were cancelled
or postponed and proposed mergers and
acquisitions in the oil & gas industry collapsed
as sellers and buyers were unable to settle on
a mutual agreement.
While oil prices have risen again, many in the
industrial world have been confronted with an
indisputable agenda: to lower production costs
while improving efficiency and all on a huge scale.