Australia Global Energy Pulse ANALYSIS

Transcription

1 Australia ANALYSIS In an effort to set the operating context for perceptions of the industry reputation, respondents were asked to rate their level of favourability towards seven key sectors. Overall, respondents in Australia have less favourable perceptions towards the collective industries tested than the rest of the global respondents. Results are lower than global favourability measures for oil and gas (20 percentage points) and natural gas (15 percentage points) companies. On the question of industry regulation, results highlight that roughly fifty to sixty percent of respondents both globally and in Australia feel that there is currently the right amount of regulation governing each industry. That said, compared with global measure, more respondents in Australia say there is too little regulation of the oil and gas (10 percentage points higher) and natural gas (8 percentage points higher) industries. As part of the exploring perceptions about the energy sector globally, respondents were asked to compare each industry oil and gas, mining and natural gas companies across 13 key factors of influence. Compared to the global measurements, respondents in Australia have less favourable views about the oil and gas and natural gas industries compared to the global measurements. Results are more than 10 percentage points lower on the following attributes: is an industry that I trust (17 and 16 points lower), has a strong track record of corporate social responsibility (13 and 14 points lower), is responsive to the needs of customers (13 and 12 points lower), contributes to the socioeconomic development in communities where it operates (12 points lower), and has a positive impact on the economy (12 and 11 points lower) Global Energy Pulse In a digitally connected world, it is important for industry to understand how much credibility and trust citizens have in the various voices regularly discussing issues related to the oil and gas sector. The top-rated sources among respondents in Australia are generally consistent with global measures, however, many sources receive notably lower scores in Australia primarily those affiliated with the oil and gas industry. The biggest differences are seen for the following sources: an oil and gas company executive (14 points lower), an industry association that represents oil and gas companies (13 points lower), an environmental activist (11 points lower), a scientist or engineer who works for an oil or gas company (10 points lower), a journalist (10 points lower), and a neighbour or friend who works in the oil and gas industry (8 points lower). On the question of trust, respondents were asked to focus on two industries specifically; oil and gas and natural gas. Respondents in Australia express lower trust ratings compared to the global measures 13 percentage points for oil and gas and 12 percentage points for natural gas. Globally and in Australia, the majority of respondents have favourable views about four key energy sources, with renewables (solar and wind) and hydroelectric topping the list at more than ninety percent favourability, followed by natural gas at roughly eighty percent. Australian respondents, however, have less favourable views than global measures about CANADA S OIL & NATURAL GAS PRODUCERS 1

2 nuclear energy (10 percentage points lower), petroleum (oil) (10 percentage points lower), and coal (8 percentage points lower). Roughly half of respondents in Australia agree that their lives are better today because of what oil and gas have made possible (on par with the global measure). On the topic of environmental impacts, just under half agree that it is possible for oil and gas development to balance economic benefits and environmental impacts (on par with the global measure). And, as with the global perspective, few respondents in Australia out rightly agree that it is feasible and practical that in ten years they will use almost no oil and natural gas in their day to day lives. Globally and in Australia, respondents are divided when it comes to the industry being sincerely committed and working hard to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it produces. A key objective of this research initiative was to understand whether there was global interest in Canadian oil and gas, as well as assessing baseline measurements for the industry s messaging about safety and environmental innovation. 1. Industry Reputation and Regulation FAVOURABILITY BY INDUSTRY INDUSTRY FAVOURABLE NEUTRAL UNFAVOURABLE BANKING COMPANIES 32% 48% 38% 32% 29% 20% AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES 41% 52% 46% 39% 13% 9% OIL AND GAS COMPANIES 20% 40% 48% 40% 32% 21% WATER UTILITY COMPANIES 35% 50% 50% 37% 15% 13% NATURAL GAS COMPANIES 30% 45% 50% 42% 19% 13% ELECTRICITY UTILITY COMPANIES 29% 47% 41% 34% 30% 19% MINING COMPANIES 22% 28% 46% 52% 32% 20% REGULATION BY INDUSTRY INDUSTRY TOO MUCH ABOUT RIGHT TOO LITTLE BANKING COMPANIES 6% 21% 46% 47% 48% 32% AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES 6% 17% 71% 60% 22% 23% OIL AND GAS COMPANIES 5% 17% 51% 49% 43% 33% NATURAL GAS COMPANIES 5% 16% 60% 57% 24% 27% ELECTRICITY UTILITY COMPANIES 5% 17% 53% 53% 42% 31% MINING COMPANIES 9% 13% 50% 51% 41% 36% Respondents were asked if they would like to see more, less or the same amount of energy from a series of top producing countries (excluding their country of residence). Both globally and in Australia, Canada ranks as the top country for receiving more energy. It is interesting that compared with global measures, a smaller percentage of respondents in Australia say they would prefer to get more energy from all other countries assessed. The largest gaps are seen for Saudi Arabia (11 percentage points lower than global measures), Kuwait (11 points lower), the UAE (10 percentage points lower), Iraq (9 points lower) and Nigeria (9 points lower). In keeping with the comparatively stronger rating for Canada, agreement is consistent with global measures that given the choice, 2

3 I would choose Canadian oil and gas over oil and gas imported from another country. Fewer respondents in Australia, however, agree with statements about Canada s safety and environmental record. 2. Industry Attributes PERSPECTIVES ON KEY INDUSTRY ATTRIBUTES OIL AND GAS MINING NATURAL GAS HAS A STRONG TRACK RECORD OF 33% 38% 38% 26% 25% 34% FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE HAS A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE 27% 39% 41% 30% 28% 39% ECONOMY IN... PROVIDES HIGH QUALITY PRODUCTS 23% 32% 25% 24% 26% 34% OR SERVICES IS WELL MANAGED 22% 31% 27% 22% 20% 31% IS INNOVATIVE 22% 30% 24% 21% 24% 32% CONTRIBUTES TO SOCIOECONOMIC 20% 32% 28% 26% 20% 32% DEVELOPMENT IN COMMUNITIES WHERE IT OPERATES MAKES SURE HIGH SAFETY STANDARDS 25% 31% 31% 23% 27% 34% ARE MET IN ALL PLACES IS AN INDUSTRY THAT I TRUST 12% 29% 14% 21% 16% 32% IS RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS 15% 28% 16% 20% 18% 30% OF CUSTOMERS HAS A STRONG TRACK RECORD OF 14% 27% 15% 20% 15% 29% CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WORKS ETHICALLY WITH POLITICIANS 14% 21% 13% 17% 15% 23% AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS CARES ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT 12% 22% 11% 18% 20% 29% CHARGES A FAIR PRICE FOR THEIR 14% 24% 14% 20% 16% 27% PRODUCTS/SERVICES TOP 2 BOX A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL 30% 28% TOP 2 BOX A CELEBRITY (ACTOR, MUSCIAN) 18% 25% 3. Trust TRUSTED SOURCES OF INFORMATION - BELIEVE MOST/SOME OF WHAT THEY SAY (TOP 2 BOX) A UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR WHO IS AN EXPERT ON OIL AND GAS ISSUES 72% 69% A SCIENTIST AND ENGINEER WHO WORKS FOR AN OIL AND GAS COMPANY 49% 59% AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST 45% 56% A NEIGHBOR OR FRIEND WHO WORKS IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY 44% 52% AN INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION THAT REPRESENT OIL AND GAS COMPANIES 27% 40% AN OIL AND GAS COMPANY EXECUTIVE 25% 39% A JOURNALIST 33% 43% A RESPECTED LOCAL COMMUNITY LEADER 47% 45% A NATIVE OR ABORIGINAL LEADER 38% 43% THE LEADER OF YOUR COUNTRY 32% 37% 3

4 PERSPECTIVES ON INDUSTRY INDUSTRY TRUST NEUTRAL DISTRUST DON T KNOW OIL AND GAS 18% 31% 36% 34% 40% 29% 7% 6% NATURAL GAS 22% 34% 42% 36% 29% 22% 8% 7% 4. Global Energy Literacy and Perceptions ENERGY PERSPECTIVES (TOP 3 BOX) EXTREMELY/VERY/SOMEWHAT FAVOURABLE SOLAR 96% 96% WIND 93% 94% HYDROELECTRIC (INCLUDING DAMS) 92% 92% NATURAL GAS 80% 82% PETROLEUM (OIL) 47% 57% NUCLEAR 44% 54% COAL 41% 49% 5. Energy Perspectives PERSPECTIVES ON TRUST IN INDUSTRY AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DON T KNOW I AM MORE LIKELY TO 50% 43% 27% 27% 7% 20% 16% 10% SUPPORT MY COUNTRY IMPORTING ENERGY FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE A PLAN TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE IT S POSSIBLE FOR OIL 39% 40% 29% 31% 12% 17% 20% 12% AND GAS DEVELOPMENT TO BALANCE ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN A WAY THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME CAN AGREE WITH OUR LIVES ARE BETTER 49% 46% 27% 28% 10% 17% 15% 9% TODAY BECAUSE OF WHAT OIL AND GAS MAKES POSSIBLE IT S FEASIBLE AND 31% 34% 27% 29% 23% 27% 19% 11% PRACTICAL THAT IN TEN YEARS I WILL USE ALMOST NO OIL AND NATURAL GAS IN MY DAY-TO-DAY LIFE THE OIL AND NATURAL 25% 28% 30% 31% 26% 29% 19% 13% GAS INDUSTRY IS SINCERELY COMMITTED AND WORKING HARD TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF GREENHOUSE GASES IT PRODUCES 4

5 THINKING OF PETROLEUM (OIL), WOULD YOU PREFER TO GET MORE OR LESS ENERGY FROM THIS COUNTRY? CANADA 22% 24% UNITED STATES 16% 21% SAUDI ARABIA 11% 22% UAE 11% 21% VENEZUELA 11% 19% KUWAIT 10% 21% IRAQ 9% 18% CHINA 9% 16% IRAN 8% 16% NIGERIA 8% 17% RUSSIA XX% 18% ATTITUDES ABOUT CANADIAN OIL AND GAS AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DON T KNOW GIVEN THE CHOICE, 32% 31% 31% 35% 6% 15% 31% 19% I WOULD CHOOSE CANADIAN OIL AND GAS IMPORTED FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY CANADA S OIL AND 22% 26% 30% 35% 5% 12% 42% 27% GAS IS THE SAFEST AND MOSTY RESPONSIBLY PRODUCED IN THE WORLD CANADA S OIL AND 25% 33% 28% 31% 4% 11% 42% 25% GAS IS INVENTING AND USING LEADING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES TO MINIMIZE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CRITICS VIEWS ABOUT 21% 27% 32% 36% 6% 13% 41% 25% CANADA S OIL AND NATURAL GAS INDUSTRY TEND TO BE MORE ABOUT POLITICAL CONFRONTATION AND DONT REALLY REFLECT THE REALITY OF WHAT S GOING ON 5