Social License to Operate: Hydraulic Fracturing-Related Challenges Facing the Oil & Gas Industry

The crossroads of urban development and improved technology allowing oil and gas development in new areas can result in contentious community issues. The debate over one of the improved technologies – i.e., hydraulic fracturing – can be highly emotional. Consequently, industry must address community issues, earning trust and therefore a “social license to operate.” This paper provides fundamental knowledge of the social license to operate concept, validates its application to the oil and gas industry, particularly with respect to shale gas development, discusses the current status of social license in the unconventional development sphere, analyzes current ongoing efforts for shale gas developers to monitor and establish a social license, and identifies potential new methods of encouraging, establishing, and monitoring a social license to operate. The paper also proposes a new institutional framework in which to promote the social license to operate, “The Center for Social License to Operate in the Oil & Gas Industry.”

The Impacts of National Culture on Safety Culture in the Global Oil and Gas Industry

Safety culture is one of the most-studied subjects in the safety literature today, although no agreement exists on exactly what it means. Most safety culture research has been conducted in high-hazard industries such as nuclear power, aviation, and offshore oil and gas production. Only limited research has investigated links between safety culture and the prevailing national culture. This paper proposes that efforts to build safety culture and improve safety performance in the global oil and gas industry will be enhanced if the safety culture maturity and the prevailing national culture are assessed and a location-specific plan is developed based on these factors. A model plan to improve safety performance for one multinational oil and gas company is presented.

Comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Management for the Electric Generating Industry

Climate change is becoming more visible in the political arena. Electric generating companies will likely be impacted by future regulation of climate change related emissions. Even though few climate related programs are mandatory, electric generating companies should begin to implement greenhouse gas management systems. This report includes a review of issues facing the electric generating industry, an examination of current emission management programs, and recommendations for an effective greenhouse gas management framework. An effective greenhouse gas management program allows a company to continually improve their impact on climate change by reducing emissions using the plan, do, check, act process. To ease the reporting burden, companies should apply de minimis exemptions to sources that produce less than 5% of emissions.