By: Travis Smith, James McKiernan, Tom Johnson, and Peter Ackley
Analysis of the industry
This industry is controlled by several large corporations, and many smaller organizations. It is difficult to enter into this market because of the high entry barriers. There are many small exploration companies that contract out to the big players of this industry such as ExxonMobil and the members of the strategic group. Some small exploration companies are Continental Energy Corporation, Atlantic Petroleum, and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation works hand in hand with Beyond Petroleum, and was indirectly involved with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The members of Exxon’s strategic group consist of Beyond Petroleum, Conoco Phillips, and Chevron. These members are a part of the strategic group because they explore, produce, refine and market oil and gas. A reason why we didn’t pick Royal Dutch Shell is because we found that they have a joint venture with Exxon Mobil. With the recent hunches of more regulation in the oil industry, these corporations are investing in natural gas companies. In order for these companies to remain competitive they need to always be innovative and creative. This is another reason why we picked these three members as a part of the strategic group. Conoco Phillips is the smallest one in the strategic group bringing in only $16.99 million in net income at the end of 2008 (ConocoPhillips, 2008). Even with this small number we still consider Conoco Phillips a threat to Exxon Mobil. Companies | Exxon Mobil | BP | Chevron | ConocoPhillips | Revenues | 335.09B-2006, 358.60B-2007, 425.07B-2008275.56B-2009 | 265.91B-2006284.37B-2007361.14B-2008241.03B-2009 | 195.34B-2006203.97B-2007255.11B-2008159.39B-2009 | 167.58B-2006171.50B-2007225.42B-2008136.02B-2009 | Market-share percentage | 19.85%-200619.2%-200717.99%-200817.46%-2009 | 15.75%-200615.25%-200715.28%-200815.27%-2009 |