The initial situation of the diploma thesis is the state that an uncertain environment as well as the shortage of resources result in emerging strategic risks for international petroleum companies. The task of the diploma thesis is the analysis of the strategic development and positioning of selected petroleum companies between 2000 and 2005 in order to identify possible strategic behavior patterns. The identification of possible strategic concepts for petroleum companies by using the brainstorming creativity technique is the basis for the development of the so called Exploration & Production focused morphological box which is the heart of the diploma thesis. By applying the theoretical fundamentals of the value chain introduced by Porter, the main activities which are part of the morphological box are defined with Exploration & Appraisal and Development & Production. In addition, the morphological box is extended with the segments acquisition, cooperation, human resources and energy portfolio. Finally, strategic views as well as indicators and possible behavior patterns have to be defined for each segment by using creativity techniques in order to complete the morphological box. The comparison of E&P companies according to defined economic and technical indicators allowed a ranking as well as a differentiation into "weak" and "good" performers. The overall strategic analysis allowed drawing conclusions for OMV Exploration and Production GmbH.