A marriage of convenience or necessity? Research and policy implications for electrifying upstream petroleum production systems with renewables

Conventional oil and gas companies are attempting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through sustainability practices to remain relevant in a low-carbon energy future, including the emerging idea of upstream energy integration (or field electrification) – electrifying upstream petroleum production operations with renewables to reduce carbon intensity and mitigate process emissions. While promising, its dynamics and wider ramifications remain largely unexplored in the scholarly literature. Drawing on socio-technical transition theory and a qualitative approach to energy systems analysis, this perspective piece identifies and discusses the implications of upstream energy integration, proceeding with three thematic parallels and five central motifs – Process energy needs, Resources and materials sourcing, Embodied energy implications, Scalar deployment costing, and Temporal dynamics for transition (the PREST framework) – that potentially set research and policy framing agendas to complement existing energy governance frameworks.