GOXI Innovation Series: Marketing "Responsible Oil"

Oil and gas companies around the world produce 86 million barrels of oil each day. Demand continues to grow and is expected to increase by 7 percent by 2020 and by 28 percent by 2035. This upward trend in the demand for oil and gas underscores the importance of promoting the development of market-based mechanisms to incentivize and reward best practices in the industry.

To respond to this imperative, Equitable Origin, a social enterprise (/http://www.equitableorigin.com/products) launched the first stakeholder-based certification system for the oil and gas industry in October 2011. The EO100 Standard represents an unprecedented collaboration with oil and gas producers; indigenous peoples’ organizations; social and environmental focused NGOs, academics, and national governments. If successful, it could—for the first time—provide users of hydrocarbons (manufacturers, retailers and gas stations) with the choice to align their purchasing decisions with companies that responsibly produce and source oil and gas.

This discussion will showcase how the EO100 Standard was developed, its application on the ground and how it could potentially add business value and influence the way institutions like the World Bank Group think about measuring the impact of the oil and gas industry.