As far as I know, whenever an end consumer is buildt, it works backward through delivery chains for the first product and builds all required steps. However, sometimes, there is a choice. For example, a gas station is buildt, so you get a choice between an Oil Platform in water or an Oil Pump on land. I think it's safe to assume the game will do that based on the "chance" level of each factory - so far so good.
Assuming you play a game with no water at all. Based on chance, some oil-demanding factory tells the game to build an oil platform, and since there is no water, it fails. Which wouldn't be surprising even in a normal game, that happens often enough. But how far "back" does the game go to try again? Will it only try to build the same oil-platform again? Will it go back and see which other options for oil there are, and try to build a landbased pump instead? Could it even go further back and redo the building that demanded the oil and try if there are alternatives (eg. bio-fuel)?
I think this is important to know even for planning. Eg. you could create larger factories which might not find a spot on the map IF you also have smaller alternatives, perhaps with less production, that can be placed instead. But if the game does not fallback on a different factory, that idea does not work at all, and instead you get broken chains and/or buildings placed outside their natural environment...