Write an essay on Oil and gas industry.
Oil and gas industry is one of the most important infrastructural and economic sectors of the modern economy of the United Kingdom. Oil and gas industry represents the energy sector in the country, which is a well-established segment in UK providing a lifeline to health, safety, and prosperity of the overall nation. The oil and gas industry along with the nuclear and coal sectors are referred to as the subsectors of the energy segment in UK that will be discussed throughout the paper (Kates, Travis, and Wilbanks 2012). The particular sector highly experiences different types of disruptions throughout the various periods of its operations. Climate-related disruption is one of the highly faced challenges of the specified industry. Due to the scenario, increasing numbers of studies have been conducted by the scholars for developing primary evidence, data, and knowledge (Shindell et al. 2012). In the rise of climate change, the impact of weather and different relative policies are examined highly from the variety of perspectives. One of the most valuable aspects is studying the effects of intense and erratic weather conditions on the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Due to the operations of downstream oil and gas industry, the emergence of climate change is observed while affecting the long-term performance of the individual sector (Reviews 2013). The climate change policies are defined and developed by the government of UK for ensuring the proper balance is maintained in the climate. Apart from that, the policies also aim to promote sustainability to the overall operations of downstream oil and gas industry.
The overall information suggests the necessary compliance of the activities and practices of the oil and gas industry with the different environmental legislations (Hajat et al. 2014). Therefore, the identified industry must need to form or shape up its developmental activities in a certain way conforming to the environmental standards and regulatory requirements of the climate change policies. A wide range of policies such as the “Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA)” or “Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)” helps to maintain the different standards of the environment (Tubi, Fischhendler and Feitelson 2012). Policies are designed to promote the cleanliness of the overall climate alongside assisting the development of transparency and accountability through the increasing level of public participation. From the context of UK, the various types of environmental enforcement are processed to ensure the environmental compliance of the practices and approaches of the oil and gas industry (Pidgeon 2012). Here, enforcement is defined by the numerous sets of tools and actions proposed and implemented by the government directly or indirectly through the leading agencies throughout the country. The identified approaches devised by the government play vital roles in ensuring the compliance of the operations with the various climate change policies.
As discussed in the earlier paragraphs, the basic significance of environmental enforcement is based on effective monitoring of the climate change factors, environmental inspections, environment restoration orders, and climate-related audits. Therefore, the efficiency should need to be maintained in the environmental enforcement processes devised by the country government for ensuring the positive compliance of the operations undertaken by the downstream oil and gas industry. From the context of oil and gas sector, the activities are practiced from almost every corner of the world (Wheeler and Von Braun 2013). It is a major fact that the global community relies heavily on the outcomes of oil and gas exploration and production process for sustaining the foreseeable future. According to the BP Statistical Review, of World Energy, the primary energy consumption rate in the world for the period of 2004 was 10000 million tonnes of oil equivalents suggesting the 65% representation of oil and gas industry in the supply of global energy. On the other hand, coal and nuclear energy primarily contribute to the rest of the 35% of overall power consumption by the world (Gössling et al. 2012). Therefore, it can be acknowledged that the primary emphasis is provided to the downstream oil and gas resources for fulfilling the needs of energy consumption in the world including UK. Due to the popularity of the utilising oil and gas production as the primary source of energy in the country, the UK government understands the predictable challenges that would be faced by the entire nation (Viguié and Hallegatte 2012). In this case, the significant challenge is to cope up with the dynamic requirements of the country related to the need for energy while ensuring the reduction of adverse impact on the overall climate by adopting the good contemporary practices.
It is a major fact that the downstream stage for exploring the oil and gas resources has always been experienced with the specific types of adverse effects on the ecological environment. Some of the significant incidents such as the oil spills, fire and accident, air and water pollutions, and damaged lands have their high level of influenced affecting the overall climate of the country (Watts et al. 2015). These scenarios are recorded at various times in multiple places. Considering the recent time, the social implications of the operations conducted by the oil and gas industry can be highly observed in the remote communities gaining the growing amount of attention. In case of UK, the oil and gas industry of UK is constantly striving to shape up their current practices to reduce the identified challenges for providing protection to the climate (Wang and Zou 2016). From the current scenario, multiple types of actions are proposed and developed regarding the oil and gas industry of the country; however, the industry recognises the need of even more measures to be accomplished for protecting the overall climate.
“The Earth Summit” is held by “The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UBCED)” for providing increasing focus on the existing link between the socio-economic development and overall climate (Lockwood 2013). The principal aim of this type of initiatives is developing the interventions to review the global environmental issues and the activities undertaken by the exploration and production of oil and gas industry. Therefore, the study must need to be organised on determining the effects of climate change policies devised and adopted by the UK government for the downstream stage of oil and gas sector.
The study is intended to develop a documented picture about the environmental issues faced by the production and exploration process adopted by the oil and gas industry. Apart from that, the investigation will be carried out by the way of studying different literature and facts about the chosen industry within the country for developing a suitable sense about the best practices adopted for ensuring the higher environmental performance (Lang and Heasman 2015). Complying with these requirements, the primary aim of this study is to analysing the effects of climate change on the downstream operations of the oil and gas sector in UK. However, the exploration and production process of the oil and gas is prioritised for the investigation, as the factor provides higher influences on the different issues regarding the climate change. The significant aim is recognised for the entire study to develop the fundamental overview of the major stakeholders associated with the certain industry and the government of the country (Spence, Poortinga, and Pidgeon 2012).
Based on the identified aim, the key research objectives are outlined below:
The introductory chapter will focus on the statement of problem for the research indicated by the increasing amount of interest from the broad range of academics, activists, and policy communities. The primary engagement of the practitioners is effectively observed in the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the oil and natural gas industry and the challenges faced by the certain business activities. The growing interest is provided to the chapter representing the review of literature prompting the formulation of the core goal of the overall process (Knox et al. 2012). Based on the identified context, the aim is to develop the holistic and theoretical understanding about the nature of challenges faced by the industry and their operations related to the human and natural environments. The overall chapter is expected to be developed providing the review of theoretical approaches for implementing the good practices in the management of associated environment. Moreover, the literature will be selected and analysed for establishing key examples across the globe supporting the exploration of the certain impact of industrial activities in the associated climate (Field 2012). Specifically, the production and exploration of oil and natural gas industry in UK will be prioritised alongside emerging adoption and implementation of good practices regarding the operations.
The chapter begins with identifying and defining the concepts of good practices associated with the industry for bringing justice to the involving climate within the framework of environmental sustainability. After recognising theme efficiently, the concepts are defined by including the theoretical underpinnings of the study. The good practices are identified by Walker (2012) with the aim of satisfying the requirements of the sustainable development. Different arguments will be formed as part of developing the entire chapter with the inclusion of participations, procedures, and public disclosures involving all the necessary stakeholders with their socio-economic and environmental contracts between the particular industry and the host community (Emmanuel and Krüger 2012). Furthermore, the arguments will also provide focus on the good practices ensuring the emergence of environmental protection to the country, as there are different kinds of responses formed by the previous scholars over the particular factor. Thus, the overall study follows the socio-economic and environmental guidelines and requirements in pursuit of ensuring the sustainable development to the overall climate. For an instance, the downstream operations of the oil and gas companies can be realised through the identification, participation, and public disclosure of the inclusive procedures at the regional level.
The fundamental origin of good practise adopted by the oil and natural gas industry of UK is often traced back to the combination of events like the toxic waste and polluting the industrial areas. According to Agyeman (2013), the identified incidents led the United Church of Christ Commission to adopt and implement the Toxic Waste and Race policy within the country in 1987 (Murray and King 2012). Based on the suggestion of Gordon and Harvey (2015), the remarkable emergence in the form of local-level of movement was observed in UK in 1987 with the aim of providing significant protection to the environment. By the years of 1990s, the increasing attention provided to the sound environmental practices by the government of the country had continuously caused the systemisation of the communities while the geographical impact had extended for covering the vast range of issues (Wang and Zou 2016).
From the examples of the work developed by Bullard et al. (2012), it is primarily ascertained that the contemporary research is conducted by determining the essential natures of the environmental hazards (Cheung et al. 2012). The environmental risks are continuing to provide more emphasis on the minorities around the commercial hazards. Without the enforcement of good practices in the context of oil and natural gas industry of the country, it would not be possible to reduce the degradation impact on the climate due to the presence of operations. However, the identified factor also raises the issues regarding the people perception and the way the objectives for fulfilling the good practices is carried out. Some of the scholars like Cable et al. (2015) and Faber et al. (2014) have stated that the activities proposed by the government to ensure the proper practices are carried out for protecting the environment. However, these activities do not manage to address the necessary changing required for managing different kinds of bias (Kriegler et al. 2012). Therefore, these authors have perceived this as the failure to adopt the critical thinking process in terms of shaping up the industrial activities. On the other hand, the works concerned with the radicalism of disclosures have argued to develop the set of suggestions concentrating on the public health objectives. For an example, reducing the exposure to the harmful objects or providing medical assistance to the people or community suffering from injuries is highly prioritised by the identified studies. In this case, the environmentalists have faced the certain level of issues with the particular movement, as they proposed that the movement is providing higher emphasis on the social needs while distracting attention from the critical challenges faced by the environment (Jarrett et al. 2012). From the help of the different literature reviewed in the process, it is determined that focusing on growing amount of public participation in satisfying the requirements of developing good practices for the oil and gas industry could be highly challenging. The particular involvement of the increasing number of public could affect the overall process seriously in the course of mitigating the environmental problems. With the help of developing the different concerns and scopes of implementing good practices in the oil and gas industry of UK, the subsequent section will seek the definition of the overall framework contributed from the academics, policy involvement, and documents formed by different activities.
From the foregoing understanding, it can be studies that different ideas are circulating the related to the introduction of good practices in the oil and gas industry of UK. It is quite a natural fact that the efforts made to suggest a universally acceptable definition of the identified practices could not be successful because of the presence of differing cultural, socio-economic, and political views affecting the different nations (Cinner et al. 2012). Therefore, no universally approved definition can be established regarding the good practices associated with the downstream oil and gas industry. To develop the relevant definition, the particular perspective related to the context plays the most important role. With the help of various studies identified in this section, little consensus over the concepts of good practices can be generated with the involvement of the range of options. With the presence of the varied sources and contexts, the principles associated with the sound environmental practices can be presented and highlighted with the brief overview (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2015). Developing the definition is useful for understanding the issues and concepts added to the process at the different times. From the work f Bullard (2014), it can be stated that good environmental practices associated with the oil and gas industry of UK are forcing the minority population lack of having their access to the decision making to develop the methods adopted by the identified sector. The individual process is identified to reduce the downgrading impact to the climate while minimising the public health issues and burdens from the population to increase the quality of life (Adger et al. 2013). Therefore, the good practices within the industry are developed with the aim of incorporating the appropriate cultural values, norms, regulations, and policies to ensure the sustainable development to the related communities and making it safer for the people for their residence.
The research begins with investigating the meanings of two commonly cited forms of the good practices framework with relation to the environmental issues. Different hazards cause the emergence of the policies for securing the involvement of the good practices within the chosen industry to the overall climate as well as the society from the waste materials and emission of carbon dioxide among some the other main sources of exposures. One of such policies is known as the emission reduction policy devised by the government of the country (Tompkins and Eakin 2012). With the help of the plan, the reduction of GHG emissions from the energy supply system of the oil and gas industry is efficiently carried out. In this case, the variation can be observed in the approaches developed by the government and research undertaken by the private sector. According to Cutter (2016), there is wide range of technologies alongside the behavioural changes and development of the overall infrastructure that could be embraced for minimising the environmental impacts of the current energy supply systems developed by the oil and gas industry within a particular nation (Vermeulen et al. 2012). On the other hand, Bullard et al. (2014) argued that planning process associated with the development of policies is considered as the foundation of the different programs for mitigating the impacts of climate change. Based on the reflection of OECD (2012), most of the climates change policies for eliminating the downgrading impacts of energy supply process of the downstream oil and gas industry tend to generate in three different categories. The first type is known as the economic instruments developed in the form of subsidies, tax credit, and tax exemptions. The second category is known as the regulatory requirements with developing the performance standards, building specific target, and the emission control (Li, Yang, and Lam 2012). Lastly, the government also prepares it policies with the incorporation of multiple processes with the help of the voluntary consultation and agreements, strategic planning, and distribution of information.
Apart from that, the UK government also supports the activities through the R&D programs practiced within the country associated with the oil and gas industry. The adequateness of the support from the government of the country is effectively contributed by ensuring the direct investment or financial incentives to promote the development of the activities associated with the R&D programs (Jones et al. 2013). With the incorporation of such practice, the government wants to ensure the formation and deployment of the unique and innovative strategies from these R&D programs or initiatives for facilitating the conversion of technologies and developing a new market for those.
In this particular scenario, Walker (2012) has exclaimed that the GHG emission reduction policies are designed and executed for the achievement of multiple objectives. As part of the process, varieties of activities are undertaken including the reformation of market and subsidy in the energy sector of the country. Moreover, the multiple kinds of approaches are taken by the government for overcoming the market barriers for ensuring the utilisation of energy in an efficient manner and maintaining the fundamental concepts of good practices (Steffen et al. 2015). Walker (2013) proposed that making a suitable decision after measuring the specific policies is not an easy task for the policy makers at the administrative level of the country, as multiple vital factors are needed to be considered. The author has also mentioned the key factors requiring the proper attention, such as potential capacity, costs, impact on environment and economy, available resources for the government, and the extent of emissions could be reduced by the way of production and exploration of oil and natural gas (Capstick and Pidgeon 2014). Walker (2013) further explained that the government of the country should need to think and measure the impacts of proposed policies on the overall economy and the environment. For an example, the UK government requires measuring the specific needs and concerns of the least developed regions of the country with respect to the adverse impact of climate change before the implementation of policies and the involving practices. The government of the country establishes the climate change policies especially for the less developed areas to ensure the alternative sources of energy are focused highly by the energy sectors (Calvin et al. 2012). Due to such process, the government is relying heavily on the exportation of fossil fuel and importing oil from the developing economies of the world.
With reference to the study developed by Cutter (2016), the results extracted from the various works done by the former scholars are highly conflicting, where the associations depend on the particular type of land and the methodology used by the industry. On the other hand, ample amount of evidence suggesting that some particular set of biases are responsible for making decision over the location used for the downstream of oil and gas industry. The survey conducted by the study of Bullard et al. (2014) reflects that a 55% of the residents of the ethnic minority group are living under the waste facilities, while 30% of the population have found the community without the waste facilities (Wittneben 2012). Often these areas are less developed and the residents do not match accurately to the particular level of economy of the country. From the analysis of the studies like Bullard et al. (2014), it is acknowledged that the overall process adopted for the investigation excessively focuses on the harmful waste facilities, rather than emphasising critically on the environmental impact of climate change policies together with the operations of oil and gas industry.
In this case, the study developed by Neuhoff (2014) critically explained one of the primary objectives of the climate change policies devised by the government, which is based on improving the incentives supporting the inception of ‘green initiatives’. With the implication of green initiatives, the aim of the government is rewarding the performance of oil and gas industry to ensure availability of the preferable capital investment grant (McMichael, Barnett, and McMichael 2012). The identified aim behind the approaches and policies developed by the government are designed to encourage the market deployment of the conducted activities while promoting the enhancement of production efficiency within the industry. Based on the findings formed by Ragwitx et al. (2015), the policy changes have enforced the downstream process of the industry to install new renewable energy capacity for developing the results. The author further mentioned that the activities and approaches must need to be drawn up as price-based rather than quantity-based.
Therefore, the advantages obtained from the green certificates in the trading system of UK can be further confirmed by the study developed by Menanteau et al. (2013). The particular policy introduced by the government is continuously encouraging the oil and gas industry in the multiple states to shift their focus for meeting the renewable energy goals in the economically effective manner (Scruggs and Benegal 2012). Therefore, the government of UK develops the intension of encouraging the precise control over the quotas while creating competition among the producers of oil and gas industry with the help of implementing the policy. Such a process will help the government to provide lower incentive costs to the manufacturers for elevating the growth of the economy.
Conclusion
The overall understanding developed from reviewing the works produced by different scholars associated with the industrial development of the downstream oil and gas helps to form significant theoretical underpinning. From the context of the United Kingdom, the current level of private and public sector energy supply is influenced by the investment in the R&D programs (Arnell et al. 2013). Therefore, the current scenario needs adequate investment for reducing the GHG emissions efficiently. According to Edmonds and Smith (2016), the investments in the different kinds of R&D programs by the developed and developing nations also help to satisfy the needs regarding the energy. The success of the R&D programs associated with the oil and gas segment of UK and the positive supply of energy throughout the nation depends heavily on the short-term investment from the public and private sector. The identified process ensures the smooth delivery of the future energy services cost-effectively while reducing the barriers in the process of implementation.
Based on the initial investigation, it can be well estimated that the relationship between climate change policies and the impact of such scenario on the oil and natural gas has been less investigated over the course of time. Due to the uncertainly and complications existing in the climate change spreading across the world environment, the fact is less investigated. However, the climate change issues have been identified and addressed by the numerous policies developed by the countries (Corner, Whitmarsh, and Xenias 2012). The same has been observed as well in the case of UK, where different types of environmental issues and challenges faced by both community and the chosen industry.
The intension of developing this individual chapter is presenting the methodology employed for developing the investigative understanding through the collection of appropriate research data related to the identified context. The chapter is largely contributed by selecting the inductive research design while developing the qualitative way of approach. As part of the process, the explorative nature of investigation will be carried out with the integration of different facts extracted from the critical literature (O’Neill et al. 2014). Proper justifications for selecting the methodologies adopted for the research will be clarified throughout the chapter to ensure the achievement of the identified research objectives. Apart from that, it should be stated that the relevant case studies related to the activities and trends of oil and gas industry in UK will be selected for conducting the analysis and developing the necessary information fulfilling the objectives of the study. Lastly, the essential involvement of in-depth interview and discussion with the focus group will be made for collecting the profound feedbacks shaping up the knowledge.
Based on the statement of Bryman (2014), research design is known as the primitive strategy assisting the process of collecting data and ensuring their analysis comprehensively (Scheffran et al. 2012). Considering the nature of the study, it is recommended to pursue the qualitative way of data collection as suggested by McGiven (2006). The particular recommendation is likely to be necessary because of the exploratory nature and descriptive way of enquiries. The distinctive design and strategy of the research are developed for satisfying the acknowledgment of experiences encountered by the oil and gas industry and the methods and procedure adopted by the sector within the country. Apart from that, the certain process of interpretation dictates the actual issues faced by the operations, the way of approach and behaviours of the key individuals associated with the oil and gas industry of UK are required the establishment of superior understanding as part of the data collection process (Baker et al. 2012). Therefore, the primary aim of selecting the inductive-qualitative methods associated with the exploratory nature of the study is generating the context-rich data supporting the smooth execution of data analysis and formation of useful conclusions.
The significant motivation for conducting the research is based on the less amount of focus provided to the chosen area of the study. Only a handful number of scholars have attempted to determine the impact of climate change policies to the overall downstream operations carried out by the oil and gas industry of UK. However, the previous studies lack the inclusion of effective facts, which could help to develop a superior understanding of the current practices adopted by the industry with their specific impact over the economy and relative environment (Lake et al. 2012). Some of the useful guidelines are obtained through the investigation and exploration of relevant literature highlighted already in the previous chapter. With reference to the identified literature, it is required to generate a broader understanding of the theories and philosophies underpinning with the chosen study. The theoretical understanding is expected to produce proper sense about the current practices adopted by the downstream oil and gas industry within the country (Webb 2012). At the same time, the recommended set of actions can be proposed at the end of the study to contribute the successful delivery of protection to the overall environment and community, whereas maintaining the compliance with the climate change policies devised by the government of the country. The identified implications of the proposed practices provide high level of motivation for accomplishing the study with considering the appropriate research methods.
On the other hand, the initial fieldwork is performed for conducting the study. As part of the process, the weeklong engagement with the chosen communities of the United Kingdom is performed to ensure the flawless access to the negotiation and reconnaissance. The particular practice highly supports the successful arrangement of group discussions and interviews. With the help of the initial fieldworks, proper consent and cooperation have been obtained from the people from the chosen community of the country (Proops, Faber, and Wagenhals 2012). Moreover, the information revealed during the process has provided the significant scope of improving the involving process of discussion and interview guidelines. Therefore, the particular factor is also identified as one of the key motivators helping the methodologies to shape up the entire process of investigation. Additionally, the initial fieldwork is also an important method for determining the prevailing situations observed in the current context of the downstream operations carried out within the industry (Toth 2013). As the discussions and interviews with the focus groups are two of the necessary elements for the entire study, this particular motivating factor of the research contributes some major outcomes for facilitating the achievement of identified objective. In conclusion, the field activities also contribute the overall investigation to produce and modify the questions in the effective manner.
Because of the research is not only concentrated on understanding the different impacts of the climate change policies developed by the UK government, the investigation is required to perform by focusing on the actions and approaches adopted by the downstream operations of oil and gas industry. Therefore, the operations of the identified industry within the country should need to adhere to the guidelines mentioned by the key climate change policies proposed by the government (Marino and Ribot 2012). Considering these vital characteristics regarding the proposed industry of UK, the study has selected the qualitative approach as part of maintain the philosophy to determine the critical factors affecting the approaches and decisions of the downstream stage of operations. Due to the overall investigation is centred highly on the different communities of UK with the involvement of oil and gas sector, different environment and community settlements are investigated by developing the suitable research methods. In order to ensure the achievement of these factors comprehensively, this particular study has chosen to involve the interpretivisim philosophy (Challinor et al. 2014). The particular philosophy is also known as the interpretivist, which allows the study to interpret the identified elements from the context critically. The particular philosophy is necessary for determining the internal approaches and process adopted by the oil and gas industry of UK while facilitating the interpretation of the operations in the findings section. It is worth to mention that the interpretivism philosophy is developed based on the critique of positivism involved in the social science. The former operations of the oil and gas industry has been observed affecting the social and environmental balance of the communities, specifically the less developed ones (Mills et al. 2013). Therefore, the rationale behind the selection of the particular research philosophy is the philosophical position of idealism present in the diverse range of approaches adopted by the groups.
The collection of data is highly based on the qualitative approach, which should need to be designed in the interpretative manner with the aim of providing in-depth understanding of the research context. As part of the qualitative approaches adopted in the data collection process, the methods should need to be developed on the basis of word of mouth, perception of the industry, and the feelings of the overall community. Rather than collecting the numerical data, the process is majorly designed to establish the descriptive overview of the identified subject for providing useful explanation (Stern 2013). Therefore, the collection of data for this research is highly based on the key types of experiments through adopting the interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires comprised of the open-ended questions.
Monette et al. (2015) stated the qualitative methods as the acknowledgement of generalisation and abstraction, which are highly required for developing a descriptive overview about the research. The identified topic for the research requires increasing attention to the overall society for providing a suitable balance to the climate of the country by complying with the instructions highlighted in the climate change policies (Leary 2012). According to Williams (2015), the emergence of qualitative data collection is observed right after the completion of the traditional approaches as part of quantitative method, as the later is not capable of capturing the feelings or expressions of the community.
In case of this particular study, surveys are primarily provided the major emphasis. Survey helps to ascertain the concepts of the research context by the help of reviewing the documents and allowing analysis of facts happened actually in the practical context. One of the most vital characteristics of the survey methodology is that the process highly concentrates on determining the roles played by the government and associated stakeholders in developing the climate change policies (Carmin, Anguelovski, and Roberts 2012). The particular process does not address the legal issues such as the socio-economic or political issues. It is important for the research to determine the roles of government agencies and stakeholders of UK to provide influence on the activities performed by the downstream oil and gas industry. Therefore, the survey carried out with the aim of determining the strengths and weaknesses of the industry. In order to pursue the survey, the questionnaire is developed in the effective manner with providing critical emphasis on the oil and gas industry (Pautasso et al. 2012). By looking at the nature of the overall investigation, the questionnaires are defined in line with the government regulations as part of the climate change policies.
The survey developed with the involvement of questionnaire. The overall process is intended to be presented directly or indirectly to the various target stakeholders. These stakeholders are associated with the government and the managers or administration department of the oil and gas industry of UK. Some of the key stakeholders of the research are the government agencies and institutions of the country, the chief companies of the oil and gas industry, the professional academics associated with the particular field of research, and the non-government organizations with their involvement in the environmental protection (Dinar et al. 2012). Considering the approaches and method adopted for developing the survey, the overall process can be accomplished in two major ways, namely questionnaire and interviews. Here, both of the ways are adopted for collecting the primary data. The questionnaire survey is defined, as the process does not provide direct effects on the responses provided by the participants. Apart from that, the questionnaire survey can cover the large number of populations specifically from the government agencies and oil and gas industry within a short period. Therefore, the significance of the process lies in the availing the independent set of suggestions and feedbacks from the respondents (Barrett and Scott 2012). On the other hand, the interviewing technique is adopted for obtaining the views and opinions of the managers and employees from the administrative departments of the leading companies belonging to the oil and gas industry of UK. The identified process is also important for collecting the primary set of data supporting the acknowledgement of key facts associated with the current techniques and practices adopted within the industry for conducting the downstream operations.
Sampling is majorly of two types, such as probability and non-probability sampling. By determining the nature of the study, non-probability sampling process is adopted for the study. The particular process is also known as the non-random sampling, as the not all the members of the particular population has the chance to participate in the research (Reay et al. 2012). The respondents in case of this research must need to be selected from the higher authoritative position of the key companies of oil and natural gas industry. Apart from that, the respondents from the government administrative level should need to be included for determining the key alterations in the climate change policies and their intension for controlling the downstream operations carried out by the industry. The particular application of the non-probability sampling technique is highly appropriate for pursuing the data collection methods with the semi-structured or in-depth interviews (Spalding et al. 2014). Lastly, the size of the sample is determined to be 50, where 30 managers and officers from the leading organizations from the oil and gas industry and 20 government officials from administrative department of UK are selected.
During the process of data collection, the particular study should need to be compliance with the code of conducts of the sociological research. During the gathering of data from the key managers or administrative officers of the leading oil and gas companies of UK, the code of conducts should need to be followed strictly by the study (Atsegbua 2012). Here, the managers, chief administrative officers, and government officials associated with the chosen context must need to inform that the overall survey and analysis is intended only for the study purpose. The accumulated research data and feedbacks are not shared with the third parties who are not associated with the research. On the other hand, it is ensured that the involving participants are not pressurised for providing a specific feedbacks in order develop the unbiased feedbacks related to the impact of climate change policies.
There was wide range of limitations during performing the identified approaches of the research. Within the limited timeframe, the research was expected to be accomplished, which is highly challenging for developing a research of the complicated nature. The identified methodology for collecting the relevant data of the research requires an adequate amount of budget (Chun, Wheater and Onof 2012). The constraints were faced in this particular stage of the research due to the limited financial capacity. Apart from that, problems are also encountered during obtaining the original feedbacks from the managers and officers of the oil and gas companies, as they felt highly unwilling to provide the real data and statistics about the industrial operations. On the other hand, the employees of these companies are not liable to provide or disclose vital data about the proposed operations of the company (Contestabile 2012). With the combination of short budget and limited timeframe to gather the complicated data of the research, the overall process became highly chaotic for the study to perform the suitable analysis and developing effective findings.
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Research Activities |
0-4 Weeks |
4-8 Weeks |
8-12 Weeks |
12-16 Weeks |
16-20 Weeks |
20-24 Weeks |
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Research topic selection |
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Collection of Secondary data |
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Layout making procedure |
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Review of Literature |
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Proposed Research plan |
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Selection of research technique |
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Primary data collection |
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Analysis of data |
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Finding of data |
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conclusion |
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Rough draft |
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Research work submission |
(Gantt chart representing the timetable of the Entire Research)
As part of developing the research methodology, the methods and approaches are highlighted for supporting the analysis of collected data with the involvement of some major tools and techniques. Therefore, it is essential for the study-based investigation to gather the suitable and relevant data according to the chosen context of the research for supporting the effective evaluation and identified information (Cradden, Harrison and Chick 2012). The basic intension of the overall chapter is developing the suitable methods for collecting the accurate data and providing rationale for such selection. In conclusion, it should need to highlight that the overall research methodology is developed with the qualitative approaches as part of the exploratory research design while complying with the interpretivism philosophy.
The primary aim of this particular study has been elaborated in the preliminary chapter, whereas the literature section provides an in-depth analytical view to the identified context. From the overall understanding, it can be proposed that the climate change policies of UK investigated as part of the study are the multifaceted tools with the capability of achieving the decision making goals for the government as well as the major organizations of the oil and gas industry (Emmanuel and Krüger 2012). On the other hand, the overall process is followed and implemented by the government with the aim of satisfying the range of requirements contributing the protection of environment. Therefore, the climate change policies are treated as the exact tool comprising of the major goals to bring balance to the overall environment. However, the implications of the tools depend on the core values of the national jurisdictions of the individual country (Garcia 2012). Considering this particular understanding, the evaluation will be done on the basis of the questionnaire for summarising and discussing the extracted findings. Based on the process, the value for the level of engagement from the two different categories of respondents will be highlighted to ascertain the major operations of the oil and gas industry within the country. Furthermore, the survey questions are developed to support the accomplishment of the interview sessions with the managers of oil and gas industry in UK (Garcia 2012). These are also analysed to develop the overview of the impact caused by the climate change policies on the oil and natural gas industry.
Four of the key questions from the set of questionnaires will be assessed in this section for determining the coordination between the climate change policies and downstream oil and gas industry of UK. The identified questions are primarily addressed to the managers of the leading organizations belonging to the oil and gas industry of the country. The process is developed to ensure the collection of environmental as well as industrial information to support the suitable formation of conclusion. The results obtained from the certain set of questions are presented in three different sections starting from the description of the results with the help of frequency tables followed by representing the percentage of the results to end with analysing the values obtained. The overall analysis is summarised to ensure the answers to the objectives are provided in the suitable manner.
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Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
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Do you think that the operations of the industry are suitably coped up with the measures and regulations of the climate change policies adopted by the country? |
8 |
12 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
30 |
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Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think that the production and distribution of oil and gas products have been maintained at a sufficient rate to fulfil the energy-related needs of the country? |
5 |
8 |
4 |
8 |
5 |
30 |
|
Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think that the climate change policies have their significant influences to change or modify the operations of downstream oil and gas sector in UK? |
10 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
30 |
|
Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think that the climate change policies require more emphasis on developing the operations of the downstream sector? |
12 |
12 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
30 |
Surveys are developed based on the interviews carried on with the government officials involving with the development of climate change policies for controlling and guiding the operations of the downstream sector. The questions developed for conducting the survey provide focus on determining the key changes in the operations of the downstream operations pursued by the oil and gas industry. The changes in the policies are made for coping up with the climate change requirements and providing balance to the overall environment of the communities. Therefore, the survey is intended to capture the feedbacks and opinions from 20 government officials and employees associated with the formation of such policies. Similarly, in this section the results of the process will be reflected through the use of tables and graph charts to facilitate the development of superior understanding. Four key questions from the interview process are extracted to develop the key knowledge related to the impact of climate change policies while determining the need of further changes.
|
Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think the measures and regulations of the key climate change policies are effective enough to control the operations of oil and gas industry of UK? |
4 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
4 |
20 |
|
Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think that the major literature influenced the formation of the principle policies related to the climate change within UK? |
7 |
8 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
20 |
|
Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think that the operations of the leading businesses of downstream oil and gas industry comply with the regulatory guidelines of the specific policies? |
3 |
5 |
4 |
6 |
2 |
20 |
|
Questions |
Strongly Agree |
Agree |
Neutral |
Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Total |
|
Do you think that the current climate change policies should need to put more emphasis for ensuring the sufficient protection provided to the climate? |
8 |
6 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
20 |
From the investigation through the questionnaire-based survey and interview with the focus groups, some of the significant findings are developed. The report influenced by the findings should need to be elaborated in this section to develop the conclusion regarding the key impact of policy changes over the downstream sector of UK. The overall process of investigation is separated in two different categories, as the questionnaire survey is dedicated to capture the industrial overview and the interview aims to reflect the viewpoints of the government approaches and practices.
From the result of the questionnaire survey, majority of the managers and officers suggested that the organizational approaches and practices are strictly monitored to ensure the compliance with the guidelines and requirements of the key policy changes. However, some of the respondents also reflected that the operations of the industry still have the scopes to ensure more compliance with the key regulatory changes devised by the UK government. On the other hand, the mixed responses are obtained from the respondents regarding the fulfilment of energy needs of the country. Around half of the respondents suggested that the production and distribution of the energy resources must need to be aligned more effectively for satisfying the increasing needs of the country. Subsequently, it is confirmed that the activities and approaches of the downstream oil and gas companies as part of the industry are highly influenced by the significant changes in the policies. The emergence of climate change policies has ensured some critical modifications in the exploration and production of energy resources practiced by these companies. Lastly, the managers and key executive officers of these companies have all agreed with the fact that the climate change policies devised by the UK government should need to put more efforts to bring improvement to the concepts and incorporating those to the downstream industry.
On the other hand, the result of the interviews with the government officials and employees associated with the policymaking responsibilities suggested that not all the operations of the downstream industry of UK are effectively governed by the identified policies of the government. Majority of the views revealed that there is requirement of more integration through the policies for controlling and directing the activities of the oil and gas industry. Based on the feedbacks, it is further acknowledged that the literature reflecting the operational influences of the downstream operations on the environment have their significant contributions over the rise and evolution of the climate change policies in UK. In case of developing a compliance of the overall activities of the downstream operations with the regulatory requirements and standards indicated by the different climate change policies in UK, the mixed reactions from the government bodies can be observed. Half of them believe that the leading organizations under the industry are not complying with the guidelines in the way of exploring and producing resources. This particular fact leads them to believe the need of further development in the current policies to ensure the full compliance and establishing the significant protection for the environment and communities of the country.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the argument developed by Defra (2006), the challenges related to the treatment for coping up with the changing climate has become the overarching theme in UK. The overall intension of the research is focusing on the climate change issues in UK and the treatments defined by the government to influence the operations and activities of the downstream oil and gas industry (Jones and Clark 2014). Apart from that, the estimated development of the awareness of the identified sector within the specific communities regarding the climate change incidents is one of the most important factors of the study. The basic aim of the research is further segregated among the four different objectives, which are attempted to answer though the particular research (JONES 2012). The concluding overview of the entire study will be drawn based on the individual understandings associated with each objective of the research. Hence, the discussions about the key facts will be elaborated in the subsequent section of the chapter.
Determining the key rules and regulations involving the climate change perspective of UK
Based on the result of the survey questionnaire and interviews with the leading organizations belonging to the oil and gas industry of UK and government policymaking department, some of the significant facts related to the current rules and requirements concerning the climate change perspective can be acknowledged. The government has developed a “Health and Safety Environment Management System (HSE-MS)” for developing the environmental policies addressing the issues occurring from the change of climate (Knox and Wade 2012). The overall aim of the system is to ensure the development of relevant policies and their integration with the industry consistently. On the other hand, the system also provides equal importance to the policies and objectives of the company equally for promoting their development within the identified industry. The underlying principle behind the identified rules and regulations associated with the climate change is largely influenced by commitment (Loria 2012). The commitment is based on developing and executing the suitable corporate strategies to achieve the goal of providing optimal protection to the environment. One of the significant objectives of the principle is providing a well-nurturing environment for the communities to promote the health and safety of the individuals (Lupton et al. 2016). Apart from that, the commitment is also based on developing an effective partnership with the key stakeholders of the context and gaining the ability to respond the in accordance to the need of the community as a whole.
Reviewing the relevant literature related to the environmental impact on the production and distribution of oil and gas resources
Different literature from multiple times has provided major influences on the development and modifications in the climate change policies. The particular fact has been ascertained through the responses obtained from the respondents. The involvement of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) since 1988 in UK is the effective example of such understanding. The government of UK has implemented some formal regulations and guidelines through the application of EIA (Mackett et al. 2013). With reference to the statement made by Weston (2002) regarding the improvement of traditional and cultural decisions, EIA is responsible to develop the planning system within the country. The leading organizations from the oil and gas industry have to get the approval from EIA before planning to establish or initiate the downstream operations in the regional communities (McMahon and Geboye Desta 2012). Subsequently, the quality and quantity of EIA in UK are increased since 1999 due to the useful reflections developed by the studies of Carroll and Turpin (2002) and Glasson et al. (2005) involving the Assessment of Environmental Effects.
Evaluation of impact of climate change policies over the downstream oil and gas industry
Climate change policies have their multiple impacts over the operations downstream oil and gas industry in UK. The particular fact can be confirmed by the responses provided by the research participants belonging from both the industry and the government. Various significant purposes are integrated during the formation of policies (Merrow 2012). Concerning the references obtained from Wathern (1988), Wood (2003), and Glasson et al. (2005), the various interventions are introduced by the government through the climate change policies for providing significant impacts to the environment. The proposals through the interventions are based on reducing the identified issues and providing high quality information to the oil and gas industry in their way of making vital decisions. Considering the argument made by Sadler (1996), the intermediate aim of the climate change policy is developing an environment facilitating the formation of sound and integrated decisions (Noruwa and Christopher 2012). The particular aim enforces the oil and natural gas companies of the country to include the environmental considerations explicitly during their decision-making process.
Recommendations regarding the future actions should be adopted by the oil and gas industry in compliance with the climate change policies in UK
The climate change policies introduced by the UK government for the overall nation are widely accepted as the effective environmental management tool throughout the specific industry. Based on the statement made by Jones et al. (2007) and Glasson et al. (2005), the current policies of UK are already mature enough to achieve the immediate as well as the long-running purposes regarding the environmental guidelines (Phelps, Webb and Adams 2012). From the overall findings, it has been observed that the major companies from the oil and gas industry find significant challenges in complying with the climate change policies and environmental legislations. These companies often experience the issue with the environmental pollution due to the presence of poor waste management. Therefore, the companies are recommended to develop the suitable waste management plan for developing a clear understanding about the solid and liquid waste (Pidgeon 2012). Such determination will help the overall industry to inspect and minimise the waste during the downstream procedure.
The challenges are also observed by the downstream industry during the produced water management strategy since the association of water production. Therefore, the companies belonging to the industry are recommended to isolate the surface reserve pit through the proper application of the policies. The certain process is required where the produced water is not stored and the drill cuttings and drill mud are followed (Publishing 2013).
As discussed earlier, the overall study gained little achievement because of the limited time and budget related constraints. On the other hand, the chosen context does not have sufficient amount of resources supplemented by the scholarly work or literature. Hence, there is a limited amount of standard criteria assessing the relationship between the climate change policies and downstream industry of UK (Räthzel and Uzzell 2013). Therefore, the further research in this particular area must need to follow some recommended criteria outlined below:
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Firstly, I would like to thank the professor and the invigilator to allow me to participate in the programme relating to the GSM. I am highly grateful to my class teacher who has helped me thoroughly during the program to provide me the needful assistance in selecting the specific topic and conducting research on the same. Apart from that, I would like to thank all the participants who have helped throughout the study to develop critical findings about the chosen context. I must need to mention that I have truly appreciated the guidance, consistent contributions, and the dependable suggestions provided by these individuals. It has helped me to accomplish my project as part of the GSM programme within the given timeframe and helped me to develop my knowledge to enhance the current skill set.
In order to pursue and accomplish the project to ensure my contribution to the GSM programme, I have chosen to assess the impact of climate change policies over the downstream oil and gas industry of UK. During the time of continuing the research with the identified topic, I have experienced multiple learning opportunities to elevate the current level of knowledge and supporting the growth in my academic career. I have noticed that the environmental changes are continuously creating high amount of issues to the different sectors across the country of UK. From large organizations to individuals from the communities are facing the concerns increasingly due to the change of climate. Specifically, the climate change impact and issues are observed majorly in the exploration and production process of oil and natural gas industry. Therefore, the certain scenario gives rise to the climate change policies devised by the government of UK. It motivates me to investigate how these policies have their existing and potential impacts on the downstream oil and gas industry through the studies as part of formulating and accomplishing the project.
Through the investigation by the application of various tools and techniques, I acknowledge the fact that “Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)” system is incorporated in UK playing the responsibility to devise specific climate change policies by assessing the different criteria. I have observed that the climate change impacts were not taken into the account of EIA until they are deemed significant. However, from the overall investigation, I have gained the most critical knowledge based on the present scenario of the chosen industry. The assessment not only contributes to the identified knowledge, but also the outcomes help the decision makes to devise their appropriate approaches.
In the conclusion, the basic intension of pursuing the project with the identified topic is based on creating and increasing awareness related to the climate change issues. I expect that the raising awareness over the concern will help the government of UK to provide increasing focus on the agendas and policies to address these issues comprehensively. Lastly, I wish that my small contribution could help in supporting the improvement of climate change policies and the operations of the downstream industry of the chosen country while elevating my academic career at the same time.
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