RISK in Focus is an overview to show recent risks in the workplace, on the jobsite and throughout the world.

Energy production business risks can be analyzed within two admittedly subjective categories: controllable and noncontrollable. As we’ll see, most of them are, in fact, more controllable than not.

 

This edition covers:

+ Controllable Risks

+ Noncontrollable Risks

+ A Final Word

It’s all too easy for a business owner to view risk management activity as nonproductive time that generates costs and negatively impacts their P&L. This is especially true for an oilfield services (OFS) company owner, who after several lean years once again is in a position to operate profitably, although macroeconomic forecasts and geopolitical conditions prevent them assuming any degree of optimism and complacency.

As these OFS company owners try to map a path forward in historically uncertain times, risk management may not be a day-to-day priority.

They know, of course, that risks related to personnel, liability, operations and property can lead to major incidents. They also understand that the costs associated with those incidents are higher compared to the costs of risk prevention and risk minimization activities that might avert the incident or at least mitigate its impact.

Still, the unfortunate tendency is to postpone proactive risk prevention steps, a strategy few OFS business owners would explicitly endorse but one that’s all too easy to slip into.

In this report, we’ll explore some of the primary risks OFS company owners face and we’ll identify strategies they can adopt to manage, reduce and recover from those risks in order to continue operating as profitably as possible as soon as possible.