Scheduled maintenance 05/07/2025
Friday 23 of May - We're currently making improvements to our website.While we work, you might experience occasional issues with logging in or accessing your account.To ensure a smooth experience, we recommend holding off on any purchases or account activities until our maintenance is complete. Feel free to browse! Thanks for your understanding as we enhance our site. We'll let you know when everything's back to normal.. Please contact us if you have any questions. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Oil-and-gas-banner-1500x500-Twitter-without-discount.png

Oil-and-gas-banner-1500x250-without-discount.png

Oil and natural gas remain the world's leading fuels, accounting for nearly 55% of global energy consumption

Oil and natural gas are formed from decaying plant and animal remains that became buried within layers of the earth and subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years. These two types of fossil fuels have been the world’s primary sources of energy for decades. They have enabled advances in quality of life and in all sectors of the economy, from residential lighting, cooking and heating to transportation and industrial manufacturing. However, the low carbon transition has put the oil and gas industry under pressure as these fuels are two of the main sources of greenhouse gases. The industry is associated with environmental disasters such as oil spills, and the prices of the two fuels – especially oil – are highly volatile with fluctuations directly impacted by political and socioeconomic events. Nevertheless, more than 100 countries currently produce oil and/or natural gas and the two fuels are expected to maintain their importance across the energy sector for many decades to come.

The production of oil and natural gas are often coupled as the two are typically found together in nature. The industry is commonly divided into three main operational sectors: upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream sector incorporates the exploration and extraction of crude oil and natural gas reserves, while midstream focuses on transporting and storing the extracted products. The oil and natural gas then reach downstream processing facilities where they are refined, distributed and sold to the end customer. The product that reaches the end customer can take a number of forms including natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petrol, diesel fuel, jet fuel, heating oil, kerosene, asphalt and other petrochemicals. Several trends are currently impacting the future outlook of the oil and gas industry. The use of natural gas has increased across all economic sectors over the last few decades since natural gas – often viewed as a bridge fuel towards a low carbon energy system – burns cleaner than oil or coal for electricity generation. The switch to natural gas is becoming more widespread with the proliferation of the technology to liquify it (to LNG) for transport. Developments in shale gas and oil production have also greatly increased supply in the US, which has had implications in global oil, and increasingly LNG markets. Given a growing world population and continued demand for oil and gas products, discoveries of new deposits and advances in production technology will determine availability of supplies. Developments in carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) will also impact the position of oil and natural gas in the long-term energy mix.

You can further explore the three sectors by clicking the links below:

Learn more about oil and gas extraction by exploring our Energy Insights.

For the latest news and articles on exploration and production read New Energy World.

Explore our dedicated collections on Aviation Fuel, Future of Gas, Road Fuels, Shale Gas and Working Offshore.

What's new?

Oil supply growth outpaces demand as fossil fuel phaseout could fall short ahead of COP30

02/07/2025
With intensifying geopolitical strains and heightened uncertainty about global economic prospects, oil markets are undergoing structural changes as th...

Read more »

Latest Statistical Review of World Energy signposts age of energy additions

26/06/2025
In a year when average air temperatures consistently breached the 1.5°C warming threshold, global CO₂-equivalent emissions from energy rose by 1%, mar...

Read more »

US utility trials 50-50 hydrogen/natural gas mix in CCGT

25/06/2025
‘Hydrogen fuel in gas turbines is seen as a promising bridge to a low/zero carbon future power system,’ explains Mitsubishi Power. ‘Since it contains ...

Read more »

UK supercharges offshore wind with £1bn investment

25/06/2025
The funding will support the production of turbines, floating platforms, high-voltage cables and emerging technologies, as well as upgrades to key por...

Read more »

Down, down, down: new drilling technologies are improving prospects for geothermal power by reducing project duration, cutting costs and drilling deeper wells

18/06/2025
  Fervo Energy drills a 15,000-foot, 500°F geothermal wellHouston-based Fervo Energy has announced the successful drilling and logging of it...

Read more »

Events and training

Human Factors Foundation - October 2025

06/10/2025
This 5-day course delivers a comprehensive introduction into human factors for non-specialists. It provides a practical, engaging and interactive back...

Read more »

Economics of the Oil and Gas Industry - October 2025

13/10/2025
A 2-day introduction to the economics of the oil and gas industry. This course is suitable for students who are new to the oil and gas industry.

Read more »

Maintenance Strategy Fundamentals - October 2025

17/10/2025
In this 2 half-day training course on the 17 & 20 of October 2025, you will gain the fundamental knowledge and understanding to develop an efficie...

Read more »

Introduction to LNG - October 2025

20/10/2025
This 2-day training course provides an introduction to the LNG chain. Suitable for students who are new to the LNG sector and/or those with a non-tech...

Read more »

Hazardous Area Classification - November 2025

04/11/2025
This 3-day training course will provide delegates with training on the Energy Institute Model Safe Code of Practice 15, Area Classification for Instal...

Read more »

Technical guidance publications

Visit our publishing site »

You may also be interested in