Articles by Levick Experts

Consider the forces arrayed against the oil majors in the U.S. and around the world:

Crisis No. 1: An Ensuing Oil Crunch

The International Energy Agency, which keeps tabs on the global fuel supply, reports the world will face an oil crunch by 2012, forcing even greater dependence by the West on foreign oil-producing nations. As consumption rates rise each year, the world needs an additional 4 million barrels per day just to keep pace.

Crisis No. 2: “Oil Patch Off limits”

The question of where to invest billions of dollars, pounds, and Euros in order to tap new oil fields keeps CEOs awake at night. Tempestuous international politics have complicated the quest for oil. In 1960, 85% of known reserves were open to international oil companies. Today, less than 16% are open. The rest of the global oil patch is off limits.

Meanwhile, countries that had invited oil companies to explore, drill, pump, and ship to market, are now rolling up the welcome mats. Resource-rich countries, emboldened by higher oil prices and a growing global clout, prefer to let their own national oil companies – which are inefficient and largely political vehicles - extract the wealth. Venezuela, with its vast oil reserves, wrested majority control of key oil projects from the oil majors. Projects in the Orinoco Belt worth at least $25 billion are up for arbitration. Russia, the world’s largest oil producer and second largest exporter, recently forced BP to sell a controlling stake in an east Siberian gas field for a fraction of its potential value.

Crisis No. 3: Trouble Ahead: Corruption, Kidnappings, War

Around the world, production rates are slowing to a trickle. Intense violence in Iraq prevents a return to prewar production levels. Elsewhere, corruption and lawlessness add to the woes of the oil majors, threatening supply security. In Nigeria, attacks on Western oil facilities and kidnappings of foreign workers have cut production by more than 700,000 barrels per day, one quarter of Nigeria’s capacity.

Crisis No. 4: Explosions, Spills and Hazards

Politics aside, disaster and hazard headlines say it all…Blast Rips Texas City … 44 Oil Spills Found in Southeastern Louisiana …

Crisis No. 5: Consumer Fatigue

Rising prices at the pump cause pain for drivers and major headaches for oil company communications consultants forced to explain what to consumers seems to be unexplainable.

The industry’s crisis work must begin long before a foreign government seizes control of an oil field, a refinery explosion claims lives, an oil tanker runs aground spilling millions of gallons, or prices rise at the pump. But there is no one plan. Rather, there is a series of scenarios, each one calibrated to the most pressing issues at hand. Effectively dealing with these issues almost certainly requires:

• Media-train the crisis team several times a year in anticipation of the most likely situations. Role-playing sessions in which oil company representatives meet with reporters should be videotaped and reviewed.
• Run to the crisis. Confronting the issue at hand puts control in the company’s hands, avoids widespread perception of culpability, and lessens the media’s “gotcha” instincts.
• Enlist third-party supporters. Credible voices that appear impartial will engender trust and win support. But they must be recruited before the current crisis.
• Monitor the blogosphere but beware the “blogging bug.” Watch for articles about you and the issues facing the industry in blogs and traditional media outlets. Have all materials drafted by your crisis counselors. Don’t publish under a pseudonym as John Mackey of Whole Foods did. Even here there are rules.
• Consider your own blog. Expanding on the point above--if you already have your own business blog or are just considering one, it's worth noting that a transparent, frequently-updated, well-regarded blog is an excellent communications tool during times of peace and times of crisis.  
• Create crisis information templates for your web site. Create a template and placeholder content for pages on your web site that would be called into play during a crisis (e.g. press releases, FAQs, open letter to consumers, updates, etc.) but do not publish the pages to the Web. By having templates ready to go, your business can more quickly launch the newly relevant crisis information, if/when the time comes.
• Create pay-per-click ads. When crisis occurs, many consumers turn to the Internet—not television--to find the latest information. Having a pay-per-click account established and a series of ads ready to be posted will help you more quickly drive consumers and other stakeholders to your version of the story.
• Find the right keywords.  Ask your Search Engine Optimization team to create a list of keywords that consumers would likely use if they were searching for information about a crisis in your company. Use this keyword list as a starting point for generating 'placeholder' content for the unpublished crisis web pages you're developing, as well as for any PPC campaigns you may perform.

In the end, crisis preparedness can establish an oil company as a source of essential information at the very moment when corporate shortcomings seem certain and the odds appear to be against you. It’s one way to communicate more effectively in a world far different than the last oil crisis.