Business Analysis and Organisational Performance of the Oil and Gas Sector in South-South Nigeria

ABSTRACT This study examined the effect of business analysis on the performance of oil and gas companies in South-South Nigeria. Specifically, it investigated the relationships between strategic alignment and operational performance; market responsiveness and community relations; internal efficiency and regulatory compliance; technology and innovation adoption and employee training and development; and risk management practices and supply chain efficiency. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was employed. Data were collected from 321 valid respondents drawn from a sample of 378 employees across six major oil companies — Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Eni (Agip), and NNPC — operating across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers states. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation and simple linear regression at the 0.05 significance level. Results established that strategic alignment significantly and positively affects operational performance (β = 0.744, R² = 0.553, p < 0.001); market responsiveness significantly influences community relations (β = 0.683, R² = 0.467, p < 0.001); internal efficiency has a strong positive relationship with regulatory compliance (β = 0.798, R² = 0.637, p < 0.001); technology and innovation adoption significantly impacts employee training and development (β = 0.724, R² = 0.524, p < 0.001); and risk management practices significantly affect supply chain efficiency (β = 0.742, R² = 0.551, p < 0.001). All five null hypotheses were rejected. The study concludes that effective business analysis practices constitute a strategic organisational resource that drives multi-dimensional performance improvement in the South-South Nigerian oil and gas sector. It recommends formalised strategic alignment frameworks, community engagement units, integrated compliance management systems, technology-enabled training programmes, and enterprise-wide risk management architectures. Keywords: business analysis, organisational performance, strategic alignment, market responsiveness, internal efficiency, risk management, supply chain efficiency, oil and gas, South-South Nigeria