The comparative study of Business Environment of International Oil Companies and National Oil Companies, and Proposing Some Policy Solutions for Enhancing the Competitive Advantages of these Companies

Major trends of change in the business environment of the oil industry had an impressive influence over the business models of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) as well as the National Oil Companies (NOCs) as the new entering competitors in this field. These trends brought about a number of changes in the business models as well. The researcher, consequently, tried to analyze the major trends of change in the business environment of these two types of oil companies through an analytic-descriptive approach, and assessed the influence of the changes in business environment of oil companies on the business models of the IOCs and NOCs. Finally, a number of suggestions were proposed to enhance the business models of these companies. The results of the study revealed that five major changes took place in the business environment of the oil companies. These major trends which were generally in favor of the NOCs and largely been at the expense of the IOCs, brought about three major changes in the business models of IOCs as well as three major changes in the business models of the NOCs. Based on these changes, a few suggestions presented to improve the competitive advantages of NOCs and IOCs.