Ethical Dilemmas in UAE Oil & Gas Procurement: Qualitative, Descriptive, and Inferential Analysis

Abstract

Ethical procurement is a central governance challenge in the Oil & Gas industry because procurement decisions combine extremely high financial value, complex supplier relationships, operational risk, regulatory exposure, and long-term consequences for organizational reputation and stakeholder trust. This paper integrates three dimensions of ethical dilemmas in Oil & Gas procurement, with particular attention to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first examination develops a qualitative thematic account based on eleven interviews with procurement professionals. The second provides a descriptive analysis of a 29-question survey of eighty-five professionals from ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) and NPCC (National Petroleum Construction Company), examining religion, organizational culture, gender, confidentiality, ethical pressure, and cognitive dissonance. The last extends the same empirical setting through inferential analysis using structural equation modelling (SEM) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Taken together, the three complementary perspectives show that ethical risk cannot be understood solely as a problem of individual morality or demographic characteristics. The descriptive evidence shows a substantial gap between the communication of ethical codes and employees' experience of pressure that compromises standards. The inferential evidence further suggests that organizational pressure can operate indirectly by weakening individual boundaries of hospitality and compliance, whereas age and professional seniority confer protective effects. The integrated evidence also identifies technology as a promising but insufficient response: AI can detect anomalies, blockchain can improve traceability, and IoT can strengthen real-time visibility, but these systems simultaneously introduce risks involving algorithmic bias, privacy, cybersecurity, automation, and moral outsourcing. In the end, this writing proposes a multilayered ethical procurement framework that combines regulation, organizational culture, leadership, training, confidentiality safeguards, supplier governance, balanced performance metrics, protected reporting mechanisms, and human-centered digital technologies.