Petroleum Company Suppliers

Case Study Prompt

A large oil and gas company that has operations worldwide is divided into three business segments: upstream, downstream, and chemicals. Upstream involves drilling and extracting oil, downstream is refining the product into gas and selling it at stations, and chemicals is producing petroleum-based products.

The upstream business segment is divided into approximately 30 companies worldwide that fall under the parent company’s umbrella of businesses.

How can the parent company cut supplier spending and also know that they are using the cheapest suppliers in all cases?

Case Study Overview

This PwC case interview involves an oil and gas company that is looking to cut supplier spending in one of its divisions. How will you approach the problem?

The Profitability Framework will be helpful as you lay out your structure for the case, but don’t rely on the basic case interview frameworks. PwC will be wanting to see if you are able to build a custom structure for the case using your prior business and casing experience.

The PwC case interview has a qualitative difficulty of 2/4, which will help you prepare for a first round at PwC. There is 1 math exhibit in the case.

PwC Interview Tips

Want to impress in your PwC case interview? The firm seeks out candidates that are proficient problem-solvers.

If you can highlight your problem-solving skills in the case, you can set yourself up to ace the case, and possibly earn an offer!

After you complete the case, make note of any problem areas in the case. After that, we recommend doing drill-based practice to double down on those areas.

For out-loud case practice, book a session with an expert coach today.