Geopolitics and the corporate investment decision

The impact of geopolitics in any international oil company's investment decisions, was discussed. Geopolitics in this context was defined as all government policies, be they economic, political strategic or military, that determine national interests, which a company has to take into account in making an investment decision. Geopolitical considerations have taken on added importance with the arrival of the Cold War and its aftermath, to the point where investment decisions based on traditional parameters such as geological productivity, rates of return, net present values, fiscal and contractual provisions frequently take a back seat to investment decisions that were taken with geopolitical impacts foremost in mind. From time to time, geopolitical factors can even pre-empt corporate investment decisions. The nature of geopolitics, its historical antecedents, the emergence of international rivalries following World War I, intensified after World War II, particularly after the formation of OPEC in 1973, the changing forms of resource ownership, and the general impact of geopolitical factors on corporate investment decisions were reviewed