Sector map: oil and gas
Intuition
For an oil and gas company, the emissions from its own refineries and fields are large, but the emissions from customers burning its petrol, diesel and gas are much larger. So the key ESG question is strategic: how will the business earn money as the world uses less oil over time? Day to day, the company also faces methane leaks, the risk of fires and explosions, oil spills and frequent policy changes on prices and taxes.
Mechanics
Material issues
| Issue | Financial channel | Where to find data | Metric to track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope 3 and transition strategy | Long-term demand, stranded reserves and refineries | Strategy disclosures; BRSR Principle 6 (Scope 3 where given) | Scope 3 Category 11; low-carbon share of capex |
| Scope 1 and methane | CCTS costs for refineries; future methane rules | BRSR Principle 6 | Emissions per tonne of crude processed; methane and flaring |
| Process safety | Shutdowns, liabilities, reputation | BRSR Principle 3; incident reports | Process safety events; fatalities |
| Spills and local pollution | Clean-up costs, penalties | Regulator orders | Spill volumes; notices |
| Policy and pricing risk | Margins | Government notifications | Exposure to price controls and special taxes |
Indian rules to know
- CCTS: final intensity targets for petroleum refining and petrochemicals were notified in January 2026.
- Windfall tax: a special tax on domestic crude, petrol, diesel and ATF exports was introduced in July 2022 after the oil price spike and scrapped on 2 December 2024. It shows how quickly policy can change margins.
- Green hydrogen: the National Green Hydrogen Mission supports production, which refiners can use to replace hydrogen made from natural gas.
Sources
From the research
A Comparative Financial Analysis of Three Listed Companies
Three IT services leaders, five years of numbers: similar growth, very different margins and returns on capital, and their October 2026 valuations.
MarketsIPO Issue Price vs. Listing Price vs. Subsequent Performance
Seven of India's most talked-about IPOs since 2021, tracked from issue price to listing to October 2026. Buying on listing day lost money in six of seven.
ValuationPaytm: Valuing a Company With No Clean Comparable
Paytm is part payments processor, part device business, part loan distributor. Why no single peer fits, and how to value it in parts and in reverse.
Try it yourself
Interactive exercises coming soon.
Key glossary terms
Related topics
Stay in the loop
Roughly one email per month. No spam, no upsells.