International Women’s Day 2022 – Tapping into Untapped Reserves 2.0

One year ago this week, I wrote a piece for International Women’s Day entitled “Diversity in the Wake of Disaster”, discussing the dire state of diversity in the oil and gas industry in the context of a global pandemic. At the time, we were one year in to life with COVID-19, hoping life everything would return to normal soon, and considering how we might build back better.

Today, in 2022, we celebrate International Women’s Day having lived two years at arms’ length from one another, with a war waging in Europe, and according to the 2021 Uncapped Reserves 2.0 Report, a 0% increase in women’s representation in global oil and gas. One might argue we have not yet reached the wake, but are still living through this wave of disaster.

The Uncapped Reserves 2.0 Report is the second instalment of a research project conducted by the Boston Consulting Group and the World Petroleum Council. Data collected by this project included a survey of 2800 employees in the industry across 60 countries, and over 50 interviews with senior executives. Researchers also utilised data provided by 50 IOCs, NOCs and service providers, altogether representing 14% of the global oil and gas workforce. Given that the core profile of the Women’s Energy Council network is in oil and gas, we take special interest in this Report and the insights it provides.

The intention behind this triennial study is to provide the industry with comparable data regarding the state of diversity and inclusion in its ranks, with a specific focus on gender imbalance. The first edition was published in 2017, followed by the second data collection project conducted through 2020 and the publishing of the second report in 2021. As has been mentioned many times on our Women’s Energy Council podcast, the importance of improved D&I is an established fact. As an industry we must now focus on the implementation of improvement projects and measurement of success, a need which this report fills at an industry-wide level.

In reading the 2021 Report, I must admit I was at first disheartened. As mentioned above, the first key figure provided by the researchers was a 0% increase between 2017 and 2020 in the percentage of the global oil and gas workforce made up by women. Having stagnated at 22%, this places oil and gas in the bottom third of nine industries analysed by BCG, defeating only agriculture and construction. With the industry having truly begun to include D&I in its strategic planning over the past three years, one would have hoped for more progress than 2 female faces in every 10 oil and gas employees.

Within the industry, the breakdown of the workforce is also troubling as women’s participation is largely concentrated in corporate functions. The 2021 Report found this breakdown to be 15% women in Upstream E&P roles, 22% in Midstream, 23% in Downstream, 4% in OFS and 43% in Corporate. This could present future problems for diverse leadership as technical experience becomes essential when moving up the industry ranks. Furthermore, within the corporate vertical, women are mainly limited to entry-level and midcareer positions, with only 14% of corporate executives being female.

However, the researchers do recognise that the pandemic and associated oil price shock are likely to have undermined any progress. They also found that progress has been made in other areas, most notably in the number of D&I policies and programs introduced by companies internally. This number is up by about 50% since 2017, providing hope that although key outcomes have stalled, there is clear commitment to building a pipeline for future progress. This is reflected in figures such as 67% of surveyed companies now having a dedicated D&I team compared to 39% in 2017; and 74% of companies tracking relevant D&I KPIs compared to 40% in 2017.

There also seems to have been improvement at the very baseline of D&I policy as far as gender imbalance goes, according to three key indicators. The first being that all of the surveyed companies now offer maternity leave, compared to 90% in 2017. Secondly, more than 95% support equal pay, compared to just 67% in 2017. And finally, more than 95% offer paternity leave compared to just 56% in the previous study. These baseline metrics are often heavily impacted by government policy, so having improved the minimum standard, the hope is that more advanced policies will now become a focus.

O&G Companies Improving D&I Core Fundamentals

However, the researchers do recognise that the pandemic and associated oil price shock are likely to have undermined any progress. They also found that progress has been made in other areas, most notably in the number of D&I policies and programs introduced by companies internally. This number is up by about 50% since 2017, providing hope that although key outcomes have stalled, there is clear commitment to building a pipeline for future progress. This is reflected in figures such as 67% of surveyed companies now having a dedicated D&I team compared to 39% in 2017; and 74% of companies tracking relevant D&I KPIs compared to 40% in 2017.

There also seems to have been improvement at the very baseline of D&I policy as far as gender imbalance goes, according to three key indicators. The first being that all of the surveyed companies now offer maternity leave, compared to 90% in 2017. Secondly, more than 95% support equal pay, compared to just 67% in 2017. And finally, more than 95% offer paternity leave compared to just 56% in the previous study. These baseline metrics are often heavily impacted by government policy, so having improved the minimum standard, the hope is that more advanced policies will now become a focus.

The Report identifies five key challenges that these advanced policies must address:

1. Underrepresentation of women in entry-level jobs
2. Lack of women’s representation in technical and operations roles and expatriate positions
3. Low uptake of existing D&I policies
4. Persistent unconscious biases around gender-related challenges
5. Low female representation in senior roles

The unfortunate reality is that not much of this is new. These five challenges were all prevalent in Uncapped Reserves 1.0 and well before. Progress has been slow and in some cases reversed by the realities of the past two years. However, despite being cause for frustration as we see how far we still have to go, this Report and others like it are important in encouraging us to continue this work. Only by confronting the data can we measure progress, or lack thereof, and thereby guide our continued efforts to realise a diverse industry workforce.

Returning to my words from 2021, I will say again: this change is not inevitable, and will not take place organically. Historical power structures were created intentionally, with the aim of sustaining the influence of the powerful. Undoing these structures therefore requires intentional action, with the express purpose of breaking traditional institutional barriers.

At the Women’s Energy Council, we are committed to intentional action through highlighting the voices of the women in our network, and encouraging allies to play their part in undoing these historical power structures. By championing those women who have reached the upper echelons of energy leadership, we hope to shine a light on the female talent available in this industry, and inspire the next generation of female leaders. Follow our new LinkedIn page and be the first to receive our latest content releases, and join our network through the Energy Council website.

Happy International Women’s Day to all the Women of WEC, we hope you feel empowered and celebrated today and every day!

Report available: Von Lonksi, U., Ostby, A., Trench, S., Goydan, P. Riemer, P., Fjaeran, T., Salamanca, P. M., Merchant, W. & Gauthier-Watson, C. 2021. Untapped Reserves 2.0 [online]. Available: www.bcg.com/en-za/publications/2021/gender-diversity-in-oil-gas-industry

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