University of Liverpool Management School, UK

Members of staff in the University of Liverpool Management School are a part of the Oil Depletion Impact Group (ODIG) based at the University of Liverpool. The role of ODIG is to understand how the dynamics of Peak Oil will impact society, and in collaboration with a range of social and political actors to devise mitigation strategies.

The University of Liverpool Management School specifically looks at the risk inherent in rapidly increasing oil prices due to Peak Oil to business and other types of organisation. Central to this work is the Oil Vulnerability Audit that allows targeted investigation/intervention in an organisation based upon an understanding of how higher oil prices will impact an organisation operationally. However, mitigation and adaptation to Peak Oil are not simply operational issues, but may challenge the value add an organisation provides to a supply chain, may even challenge the core business model. To understand the impacts before they hit means that a company can be prepared and may even develop competitive advantage from the coming crisis.

Another aspect of the work by ODIG in which the Management School is closely involved is the development of a better understanding of oil price behaviour. No-one predicted the current rise in oil prices, and no-one truly appears to understand where they are going next, although many have an opinion. Through the use of sytem dynamics modeling and parameter sweeps ODIG intends to shed light on the increasingly complex behaviour of oil prices.

Collaboration agreement

Simon Snowden S.P.Snowden@liverpool.ac.uk and Kjell Aleklett