| Summary: | The energy industry as a whole and the oil & gas industry in particular is experiencing changes under the influence of a variety of trends and the changing needs of society. Current social, economic, environmental and climate challenges are raising sharp questions for the established principles of energy production and consumption, increasingly arguing for sustainable trajectories in the development of the global energy system. There are significant international efforts to improve energy sustainability, and powerful trends are being established. However, the change in the global energy system is happening at a slower pace. The oil & gas industry has been a substantial part of the global energy system for decades. While it has significantly contributed to global development and enabled industrialization, it has also affected the environment. Currently, the role of the oil & gas industry is shifting, while it continues to satisfy more than half of global energy demand. Simultaneously, the relationship between the oil & gas industry and the sustainable development of the global energy system is largely overlooked. This thesis questions the validity of such neglect, and raises the importance of exploring sustainable development of the global energy system with its relationship to the oil & gas industry. Through the perspectives of sustainability transitions and industrial dynamics domains, this thesis aims to explore the role of the ‘socio-technical regime’ in sustainability transitions of socio-technical systems. This thesis focuses on three particular aspects: (1) the factors of change in the regime; (2) the way the regime responds to these factors of change; and (3) the relationship between the sustainable development of the socio-technical system and the regime. This thesis is based on two interrelated studies, devoted to certain aspects of change within the oil & gas industry, and an in-depth investigation of the case of Arctic offshore oil and natural gas resources exploitation. The ...
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