Corporate social responsibility in the oil and gas sector

Companies are increasingly expected to assist in addressing many of the world’s pressing problems including climate change, poverty and HIV/AIDS. According to a 2007 survey by the consultancy firm McKinsey carried out amongst the chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies, 95 per cent of the CEOs believe that society has greater expectations than it did 5 years ago that companies will assume public responsibilities. More than half of the CEOs believe that these expectations will further increase significantly during the next 5 years.1 Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a business approach for addressing the social and environmental impact of company activities. Companies from the oil and gas sector have been at the centre of CSR development. With increasing expectations placed on business, one needs to ask if CSR is able to fulfil these larger expectations. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyse CSR’s potential and limitations for contributing towards wider societal ‘challenges’. The article investigates the key areas of CSR policies where oil companies are expected to make a positive contribution: improvements in environmental performance, development and governance. We ask to what extent the current CSR agenda can yield positive improvements in these three areas.