Investigating the causes of delay within Oil and Gas projects in the U.A.E.

The soaring Oil prices are expected to reflect on the impact of delays within Oil and Gas projects in monetary terms due to the revenues forgone. This study aims at investigating the main causes of delays within Oil and Gas projects in UAE. Reviewing the literature on Oil and Gas projects, there were few studies found to be concerned with this problem. The literature indicates some similarities shared with construction projects. However, the factors identified in the literature as causes of delays in construction projects might not apply to Oil and Gas projects due to the differences between the two industries. Therefore, the literature review concluded that more research is needed on this area. The research method comprised interviews with experts for the purpose of identifying the most important factors leading to time overruns. A questionnaire based on the outcome of the interviews together with the relevant factors mentioned in the construction literature was sent to a sample of 100 practitioners to elect the most important factors that cause delays. Besides listing the most important factors as identified by the sample surveyed, the study concluded that contrary to the prevalent belief amongst most practitioners regarding the insignificance of the impact of delays within the (FEED) phase on the overall duration of the project, the data analysis indicated a strong correlation between delays within the FEED phase and the total delay at the end of the project. The study recommends that delays in the FEED phase should set an early warning and a call for immediate remedial actions to hedge against an overall delay, most likely to occur.