Firms are increasingly leveraging their R&D functions and leveraging diverse knowledge spread across global networks in emerging and developed markets. This research stream emphasizes not only knowledge acquisition, but also the use and development of new products. Knowledge and its components can play an essential role in the success of research and development activities. The purpose of this research is to study the role of knowledge management components on research and development activities in the oil industry. In this regard, initially by reviewing theoretical literature and backgrounds, a conceptual model was presented and research hypotheses were formulated. In order to test the hypotheses of the research, the statistical population includes managers and experts of one of the companies active in the oil industry, and the number of these people is about 135 people. According to Cochran's relationship, the number of statistical sample is equal to 100 people, and the questionnaire was distributed among these people. The questions of this questionnaire were adapted from reliable sources and their validity and reliability were also confirmed.  Considering the non-normality of data distribution, partial least squares method and SmartPLS 2 software were used for statistical analysis. Based on the significant values ​​related to the hypotheses, all four were confirmed. The impact of knowledge creation, application, exchange and preservation on research and development activities was equal to 0.884, 0.905, 0.748 and 0.625, respectively. Therefore, the most important suggestion of the research is to pay attention to the team work in which knowledge is exchanged in these teams, and based on this, by creating creativity and innovation, the success of research and development activities will increase.