Considering the environmental destruction wrought by many of the world’s oil and gas facilities, it would be reasonable to applaud any commitments regarding environmental protection made by industry leaders. Yet some of these pledges and promises appear insincere upon closer inspection, and have led to the phenomenon of greenwashing across the sector, where minimal environmental commitments are promoted excessively, to draw attention away from a company’s more destructive activitites.
Greenwashing can not only affect the public image of a company, but also its legal status. With a spate of lawsuits made against oil and gas majors for failing to live up to lofty environmental commitments, we consider the potential fallout of the wave of greenwashing that has swept over the sector, and ask if, when it comes to climate pledges, actions speak louder than words.
Elsewhere, we assess the state of the oil and gas industry as a whole two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, and look at Vietnam as a potential oil and gas hotspot of the future.
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In this issue
Climate claims and greenwashing: the tightening net on supermajors’ climate commitments
A new report supports arguments that oil and gas majors’ actions do not match promises when it comes to decarbonisation. Scarlett Evans considers what is being done about greenwashing.
Covid-19 in oil and gas: two years on
It’s been two years since the pandemic began, with nations around the world coming to grips with its ripple effects and damages. Scarlett Evans investigates how oil and gas is faring.
Proving ground, proving sea: inside Vietnamese oil and gas
While not a traditional oil and gas heavyweight, Vietnam has emerged as a potential player, with Asia’s third-largest reserves of oil. Giles Crosse asks if the country could be a proving ground for new offshore innovation?
What can digitisation do for the oil and gas supply chains?
Scarlett Evans explores how oil and gas is seeking financial savings, environmental benefits and safety improvements through technology innovation.
Toxic gas: the destruction of Gazprom’s image
Matthew Farmer investigates how Russia’s largest oil and gas company has seen its brand tarnished and deals abandoned as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
A post-invasion landscape: the geography of oil and gas after the Ukraine conflict
Scarlett Evans looks at how Russia’s ongoing incursion into Ukraine has changed the oil and gas landscape, and which nations are expected to pull ahead to meet demand.
A $20m boost: how subsea digital tools can advance offshore automation
Scarlett Evans speaks to Simon Miller, managing director of subsea surveyor Rovco, about the group’s AI tools and what a recent funding round means for its future.
Next issue: small-scale developments
Could new offshore facilities make or break the global sector? With oil and gas fairly receiving considerable criticism for its environmental footprint, a new wave of smaller-scale projects could deliver energy security on a local level, and minimise the sector’s environmental damage. We consider the potential of these localised developments.
