Outlook 2025: Why oil and gas must play a central role in the transition to a lower carbon economy
The climate narrative has centred on phasing out fossil fuels in favour of renewables and novel solutions, but increasingly, policymakers are realising the importance of hydrocarbons as an enabler of the transition
For over 100 years, oil and gas has been the bedrock of the global economy, enabling immense growth, development and progress across the world. From mobility to materials, healthcare to food, the oil and gas industry has delivered reliable and affordable energy to enable unprecedented prosperity and a doubling of life expectancy. And yet, in recent years, the climate narrative has centered on phasing out hydrocarbons in favour of intermittent renewables, vilifying oil and gas companies as the central cause of the world’s climate problems. Policymakers and activists have sought to hamper energy companies’ financing, cut access to markets and even reduce basic access to energy, neglecting the
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Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
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The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
