Analysis of The Factors Affecting The Capital Structure of Oil Exploration And Production Companies: Comparative Analysis of TP And The Five Major Oil Exploration And Production Companies in The World

摘要

Oil and gas companies are still the most powerful and profitable companies in theworld. Knowing the factors that affect the preferences for forming a capital structure ofsuch a critical sector will provide a substantial contribution to the field of capitalstructur theory which is understated in thef literature. Besides, determining capitalstructure composition and financing decisions of the oil and gas companies areimportant issues for national and international investors who are considering to invest inthe oil and gas sector, for suppliers providing services to the sector and for banksproviding funds to the sector. In this context, for analyzing the factors affecting thecapital structures of EXXONMOBIL, BP, SHELL, PETROBRAS, LUKOIL andTurkish Petroleum (TP), linear regression and panel data regression analysis areperfomed by using the data of these companies for the years 2006-2014 (covering 36quarter period). Empirical results revealed that capex, operating profit, risk and quickratio have negative relation with leverage, whereas operating net cashflow-growthopportunities-size (all together forming an independent variable) has positive relationwith leverage. Additionally, our empirical results mostly support the pecking ordertheory.