Sustainability

Energy Industry Searches Soul on Diversity, Inclusion

The 25 May death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, sparked national and international protests—and the oil and natural gas industry was not immune to the calls for social change.

Diverse attendees at 2019 OTC conference
Attendees are handed branded stress balls from a robot named Sawyer, created by Rethink Robotics, during the annual Offshore Technology Conference inside Houston’s NRG Center on 7 May 2019.
Credit: Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle.

The oil and natural gas industry is at a moment of reflection.

On top of struggling to adapt to crude prices hovering under $40/bbl and keeping its workforce safe from the coronavirus pandemic, the industry is doing some soul searching on diversity and inclusion.

The 25 May death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, sparked national and international protests—and the oil and natural gas industry was not immune to the calls for social change.

Civil rights leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, wrote letters to the industry trade group Interstate Natural Gas Association of America asking for a meeting to discuss the hiring of more women and minorities.

The population of the United States is 60% white, 18% Hispanic, 13% black, 6% Asian and 3% other, according to the latest figures from the US Census Bureau. But employment in the oil and natural gas industry does not reflect that.

Of the 1.1 million people who work for the industry in the United States, about 75% are white and male, data from the Energy Futures Initiative and National Association of State Energy Officials show.

The industry has some catching up to do on race and gender, but the issue is already on the radar of some executives.

In the days after Floyd’s death, Lorenzo Simonelli, the Italian-born chief executive of Baker Hughes, wrote a public letter stating that the Houston-based oilfield services company “will not tolerate discrimination anywhere, without exception.”

Employing more than 67,000 people in 120 nations around the world, Baker Hughes has a multiethnic and multilingual workforce that Simonelli said values care and collaboration.

“We must do our part as a community and a company to stand together against this injustice, not only in the US but around the world,” Simonelli said.

Parsley Energy Matt Gallagher also wrote in a public letter that the Austin oil company is “identifying local nonprofits that will support social equality and justice.”

“Everyone must do their part,” Gallagher said. “It starts with each person being responsible for his or her own actions, but it cannot end there. Don’t allow intolerance even if you are a casual observer.”

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