Fraying ties? Networks, territory and transformation in the UK oil sector

一个多世纪以来，生产网络遍布世界各地的国际石油公司在英国开展了部分全球业务。其中一些跨国公司在英国生产石油，而另一些公司则提炼和销售石油；一些总部设在英国，或者为他们的项目寻求获得科学技能或资金。全球石油公司与国家领土之间的这些不同关系的多样性和长期性意味着人们经常对它们的稳定性和持久性以及英国在国际石油政治经济中的战略地位的安全性做出假设。在全球石油需求从欧洲转移、北海产量下降、政府和社会采取更多行动加速低碳转型的背景下，英国“融入”全球石油网络的方式正在发生变化。在英国有着深厚根基的国际石油公司，如壳牌和英国石油公司，正在剥离历史上重要的资产，他们在英国的足迹正在缩小。与此同时，一群不同的新公司——它们与英国的联系既不像老牌公司那样广泛，也不像老牌公司那样深入——已经进入英国，寻求获得资源、金融、产品市场和专业知识。这些新公司以新的方式将英国纳入全球石油政治经济，它们日益增长的作用正在重塑几十年来将国际石油公司与英国联系在一起的关系和做法。英国石油业转型的轨迹、过程和后果尚不清楚。本研究调查了英国在全球石油网络中的战略地位的持续转变。它使用社会科学方法和创新的研究设计来分析三个层面的转型：资产-公司关系、制度和精英网络，以及政治-经济实践和规范。它将为国际石油公司提供关于英国五种“资产”（自然资源、资本渠道、产品市场、专业知识和外交能力）角色变化的新知识；以及这些跨国公司和资产之间关系的多样性、深度和持久性。研究工作将由一个受过经济地理学、政治学和人类学训练的国际跨学科小组进行，并在分析石油网方面具有共同的专门知识；并与在英国拥有20年全球石油网络研究记录的第三部门组织（平台）合作。这项研究将为社会科学领域的学术研究人员以及与英国石油行业相关的一系列非学术受众创造产出，并得到广泛理解。该项目将提供新的知识，促进对连接国家和全球经济的“耦合”过程的理解，并开发一个新的跨学科视角，社会科学家可以用它来理解和评估这一过程。该研究创造的知识将通过发表期刊文章、在国际会议上展示研究成果和撰写一本书的方式与国际研究界分享。项目团队将在研究过程中与民间社会、工业界和政府的非学术研究用户密切合作。他们将设计产出，为对转型和工作实践的战略理解提供信息，包括工作文件、转型和动画的可视化、政策简报和执行摘要。该项目还将与皇家地理学会-英国地理学家研究所合作，为普通受众提供信息，并为A-level教师和学生制作教材。

International oil firms, with production networks spread across the world, have embedded parts of their global operations in the UK for over a century. Some of these global firms produce oil in the UK, while others refine and sell it; some are headquartered in the UK, or seek access to scientific skills or finance for their projects. The diversity and longevity of these different ties between global oil firms and national territory mean assumptions are often made about their stability and permanence, and about the security of the UK's strategic position within the international political economy of oil. The way the UK is 'plugged into' global oil networks is changing, in the context of a global shift in oil demand away from Europe, declining production in the North Sea, and growing action by governments and society to accelerate low carbon transition. International oil firms with deep roots in the UK, such as Shell and BP, are shedding historically significant assets and their UK footprint is shrinking. At the same time, a diverse group of new firms - with neither the range nor depth of ties to the UK as long-established firms - have entered the UK seeking access to resources, finance, product markets and expertise. These new firms insert the UK into the global political economy of oil in new ways, and their growing role is re-working relationships and practices that have tied international oil firms to the UK for decades. The trajectories, processes and consequences of this transformation in the UK oil sector are not well understood. This research investigates the ongoing transformation of the UK's strategic position within global oil networks. It uses social science methods and an innovative research design to analyse transformation across three levels: in asset-firm relations, institutions and elite networks, and political-economic practices and norms. It will generate new knowledge about the changing role of five kinds of 'asset' in the UK (natural resources, access to capital, product markets, expertise and diplomatic capacity) for international oil firms; and about the diversity, depth and durability of ties between these international firms and assets. Research will be undertaken by an international, interdisciplinary team trained in economic geography, political science and anthropology and with shared expertise in analysing oil networks; and in collaboration with a third-sector organisation (Platform) with a 20-year track-record of research on global oil networks in the UK. The research will create outputs for academic researchers in the social sciences, and a range of non-academic audiences associated with the UK oil sector, broadly understood. The project will contribute new knowledge that advances understanding about the 'coupling' processes that connect national and global economies, and develop a new interdisciplinary perspective that social scientists can use to understand and assess this process. Knowledge created by the research will be shared with the international research community by publishing journal articles, presenting findings at international conferences, and writing a book. The project team will work closely with non-academic research users in civil society, industry and government during the research process. They will design outputs that can inform strategic understandings of transformation and working practices, including working papers, visualisations of transformation and animation, policy briefings and executive summaries. The project will also inform general audiences and produce educational materials for A-level teachers and students, in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers.