Static and Dynamic Game Theory in Common Oil and Gas Fields: A Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a systematic literature review and analysis of game theory to model oil and gas scenarios. We select and review 2514 papers from Scopus, present a complex three-dimensional classification of the selected papers, and analyze the resultant citation network. According to the industry-based classification, the surveyed literature can be classified in common oil and gas supply chain fields. Based on the types of players, the literature can be classified into papers that use government-contractor games, the contractor–contractor games, contractor-subcontractor games, subcontractor–subcontractor games, or games involving other players. Based on the type of games used, papers using normal-form noncooperative games, normal-form cooperative games, extensive-form noncooperative games, or extensive-form cooperative games are present. Also, we show that each of the above classifications plays a role in influencing which papers are likely to cite a particular paper. However, the type-of-game classification exerts the strongest influence. Overall, the citation network in this field is sparse, implying that the authors' awareness of studies by other academics is suboptimal. Our review suggests that game theory is useful for modeling oil and gas scenarios. More work needs to be done on production in this domain and using extensive-form noncooperative games.