National oil companies lack security knowledge

The awareness of growing risk to energy security and its implications is relatively low among national oil companies (NOCs) that control more than 90 per cent of the world’s oil reserves, according to a study released yesterday by Marsh, a global risk and insurance services firm.

Speaking to Gulf News from New York, Brian Storms, Chairman and CEO of Marsh said: “NOCs control the majority of the world’s carbon resources. In the oil and gas sector, 14 of the world’s top 20 upstream oil and gas companies are NOCs. Cleary, some of the risks that these companies face are risks that energy consumers ultimately face as well. Thus it is very important that these companies understood the implications of various risks they face.”
Potential risks faced by national oil companies now cover a wider spectrum that includes events such as terrorist acts, a major natural disaster or even an epidemic outbreak that affects the supply chain as well as a variety of operational risks, reputation risks, strategic risks and financial risks.

“The spectrum of risk that business leaders face today is far more complex than ever before. Newer risks – such as the impact of climate change – are moving near the top of the list,” said Storms.

Gulf News