Jim Pierce said that the NOC’s suffered from the impact of their traditionally long planning cycles, and as such faced significant business risks from short to medium term oil price fluctuations.

“The global financial crisis has challenged the business plans of National Oil Companies in the short, mid and longer terms,” he explained. “Since we last convened the Marsh NOC Conference in 2008, we have seen a dramatic rise, fall and stabilisation of oil prices. However, as major economies emerge from recession, there is significant possibility that oil prices could again increase dramatically. This would leave NOCs with difficult decisions to make about where to focus their investment. Natural gas also remains mired in a depressed pricing environment. As oil prices rise, we may witness a growing disparity between these two finite resources.

“NOCs will also be analysing decisions made at December’s UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and the implications on carbon reduction and other environmental issues. In short, myriad risks are driving business decisions in the energy business.”

Mr Pierce said the broker would be hosting the global NOCs at its third National Oil Companies Conference scheduled for Dubai next February where commodity pricing would remain one of the most prominent items on the agenda.

“By hearing from the leading experts in their fields and discussing these issues with their peers, our conference will help them navigate this complex environment. It will also provide an update on how leading NOCs are dealing with these changes and how the sector should prepare for the future.”