Social licence needed in a decarbonising world

Oil and gas producers can become part of the solution. But only if they can maintain, or regain, public trust

The UK oil and gas E&P industry and its continuing social licence to operate came under significant scrutiny in the run-up to and aftermath of Cop26 in Glasgow. Never before have the names of hydrocarbons projects or their owners been so front and centre of people’s consciousness. The recent unprecedented rise in prices for gas—and more recently also for oil—has also loomed large in the consciousness of the general public and the media. Thus, the role of firms operating on the UK continental shelf (UKCS) in a decarbonising world has come into ever sharper focus. The UK oil and gas sector has long accepted the need to reinvent itself as an integrated energy and carbon capture and storage