Project

Fraying Ties? Networks, Territory and Transformation in the UK Oil Sector

A collaboration between Durham University, LSE, VU-Amsterdam and Platform-London

DOI: 10.26303/630q-nn95

Key takeaways

  • The UK’s oil sector is changing shape: major international companies are reducing their UK footprint while new, often less-established firms are entering the market, changing how the UK connects to global oil systems.
  • Old networks still hold power: even as companies change, elite social ties among finance, policy, and industry leaders remain stable - shaping how decisions are made and whose interests are represented.
  • Regulation is under pressure to change: current oil regulations prioritise economic recovery, but this may conflict with climate targets. The research suggests it’s time to rethink what regulation is for.
  • Energy transition is uneven and contested: in former oil hubs like Aberdeen, people face uncertainty. Promises of a “just transition” often mask deeper tensions about who wins and who loses in energy shifts.
  • This research connects ideas with action: from policy briefings to classroom materials, podcasts to public talks, the project brings research to a wide audience to inform debate and support meaningful change.

What is it about?

This research project explores how the UK’s longstanding position in the global oil industry is undergoing a major transformation. For over a century, international oil companies such as Shell and BP have had strong ties to the UK—through producing oil, running refineries, managing headquarters, or tapping into the UK’s financial and scientific expertise. These companies helped secure the UK’s role in global energy systems, shaping assumptions about energy security and economic influence.

However, several trends are challenging this status quo. Global demand for oil is shifting away from Europe, the North Sea’s oil output is declining, and pressure is growing to transition to low-carbon energy sources. In response, many long-established firms are selling off assets and shrinking their presence in the UK. Meanwhile, new players—state-owned companies and private equity-backed firms—have been entering the UK oil sector. These newcomers don’t have the same historical ties to the UK and operate with different strategies and priorities.

The Fraying Ties Project investigates how these changes are reshaping the UK’s strategic connections within global oil networks. It focuses on five key types of assets - natural resources, access to capital, product markets, expert knowledge, and diplomatic capacity - showing how oil's footprint in the UK extends beyond offshore extraction. The project looks at how oil companies’ relationships with these five asset types are evolving, and what that means for the UK’s place in the international oil economy.

Why is it important?

This work is significant because it gives us new insight into how national economies are tied into global systems—and how those connections can fray and shift over time. The UK oil sector is often treated as a stable, nationally controlled system. But this research shows that what we think of as “British oil” is actually deeply international. The exit of traditional firms and the arrival of new global players reveal how fragile those connections can be.

Importantly, the research also explores how power, influence, and decision-making persist despite corporate change. Even as familiar oil companies leave, networks of elite individuals—board members, regulators, financiers—remain in place. These social ties help maintain stability and influence, even as the industry itself transforms. This insight matters for anyone trying to understand how policies are shaped or why energy transitions may not be as smooth or equitable as they seem.

The findings are especially relevant in the context of climate change. The UK has set ambitious Net Zero targets, yet its current oil policies—including continued offshore licensing—may conflict with those goals. The study offers evidence to support rethinking regulatory priorities, like the North Sea Transition Authority’s mandate to “maximise economic recovery.” It also highlights the need for more socially just energy transitions, especially in areas like Aberdeen, where communities are struggling to adapt as the oil industry evolves.

The Fraying Ties project partnered with the Royal Geographical Society - Institute of British Geographers to produce teaching and learning resources for use in schools. By combining academic research with media engagement and public education, the findings of the Fraying Ties project reach beyond the university. The project's work informs public debate, supports civil society advocacy, and provides resources for students, educators, and professionals navigating complex changes in the UK oil landscape.

The Fraying Ties project was led by Professor Gavin Bridge (Durham University) and assembled an interdisciplinary team of social science researchers from Durham University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Vrije Universiteit-Amsterdam and Platform-London with expertise in the international political economy of oil. It was funded by UK Research and Innovation (ES/S011080/1) and the support of the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) is gratefully acknowledged.

Perspectives

The Fraying Ties project gathers perspectives from geography, anthropology, political science and practitioners to focus on a defining question of our time: the transition of the oil industry in an age of climate crisis and global powershifts. Focusing on the UK oil industry in the midst of this storm, offered insights into the remarkable continuities in terms of underlying webs of power, the nexus between oil and finance, the still hegemonic position of the US in spite of the entrance of new players from China and the Middle East – and the struggles within society against these powerful interests.

Professor Nana De Graaff

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

At a moment of massive change in global energy systems the Fraying Ties project was able to focus on how these transformations are playing out right across the UK oil sector.

We carried out a diverse mix of studies, from examining who actually owns the industry, to how communities react to transition and change on the ground.

Alongside our academic papers, we also produced a podcast! Tune in to find out more about how the UK oil industry works and the sweeping changes currently underway.

Dr Connor Watt

Durham University

The future of oil production from the UK North Sea is becoming less certain day by day. But oil's relation to the UK is more durable and diverse than declining offshore extraction might suggest. Large and small oil companies are entering the UK - picking up assets and infrastructures - even as others sell up and move on. And London continues to finance and trade oil around the world. What we found in the Fraying Ties project challenges the tidy notion of a 'national' sector delivering the nation's goals around energy security and transition.

Professor Gavin Bridge

Durham University

Examining transformations in the UK North Sea also meant paying attention to case studies that emplace such purported changes. Fraying ties allowed us to examine the lived experiences, changing practices and norms underlying ‘energy transition’ in Aberdeen, the ‘oil capital of Europe’. Through a grounded theory approach that privileged interlocutors’ own understandings and epistemic language, we explored the existing relations of power and grassroots contestations under which specific infrastructure developments are being operationalised as ‘transition’.

Dr William Otchere-Darko

Newcastle University

The Fraying Ties project offered a distinctive opportunity to investigate how global shifts in oil and gas are reconfiguring the UK’s position in the sector. Through interviews with senior industry figures and interdisciplinary collaborative analysis, the research uncovered the underlying factors contributing to the divestment and withdrawal of long-established international firms from the UK market. At the same time, it helped explain why new entrants chose to invest, thereby redrawing the landscape of ownership and influence. Beyond the dominant narratives of oil decline and energy transition, the project revealed the slower, messier transformation shaping UK energy futures.

Dr Tiago Teixeira

Northumbria University

Being part of this project has been an exciting experience, revealing how the shift from oil and gas extraction in the UK North Sea affects practices, values, and everyday lives. As extraction declines and new energy infrastructures take shape, our research explored how people navigate these shifts—through regulatory processes, economic uncertainty, and evolving relationships with energy landscapes. Collaborating across geography, anthropology, and political science, as well as with our partner organisation, Platform, allowed us to challenge common assumptions about change and innovation and to critically contribute to social science debates. More than just an academic exercise, this research highlights the uneven impacts of energy transitions and the historical legacies they carry. By looking beyond policy and economic models, we uncover what these transformations mean for people, today and in the future.

Dr Gisa Weszkalnys

London School of Economics and Political Science

Resources29 total

Who is involved?