able to start of their own name. BP wasn’t a recognizable name or product. So they bought up Gulf, Arco and later Amoco. This gave them the brand identity they needed. With the right marketing these companies could have come together and be strong for BP. But the problem with BP is they lacked the ability to tie these companies together. BP never really has established stable ground in the U.S. and in turn that is why they are number three in the U.S. oil markets. But in recent years they have seemed to establish their identity and are growing faster now.Product lineWithout new product lines these companies could not stay competitive. BP has stayed highly competitive by pushing their natural gas products. They emphasis their natural gas more then the other companies. They know they are not going to be able to compete in the gasoline business in the U.S. as much as ExxonMobil and Chevron. So they have used their advantages in natural gases to help them. They have taken full advantage of gas increases by offering customers price locks on natural gas. (BP Official Website)The customer locks in at price and BP guarantees that price. The other companies are not concerned as much with natural gas and have not adjusted to this new trend. BP also has been able to lock in their suppliers with long term purchasing, scheduling, imbalance and aggregation. This has put BP at an advantage over Chevron and ExxonMobil in natural gas.Exxon Mobil has not taken this approach but has concentrated on production of targeting the most crude oil they can pull out a day. They want to be the low cost producer so they have targeted the suppliers who can give them the most barrel outage a day. They have found 800 thousand barrels of liquid at one location a day by investing time and money into crude oil exploration. In 1999 they spent 8.4 billion in capital and exploration expenses. Chevron also has extended their capital in finding the quickest suppliers a...
