As energy industry growth shifts to the clean sector, oil and gas industry workers seek their paths forward.
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The past three years have been a particularly volatile period for the oil and gas industry. The sector has been impacted by the Covid pandemic, during which energy demand crashed and the price of oil contracts briefly went negative. More recently, oil and gas prices reached peaks in response to the war in Ukraine and the tightening of energy supply.

In addition to this volatility, growing pressure to reduce dependence on fossil fuels raises the prospect that the industry will face not only customary market uncertainty going forward, but also eventual structural decline for its fossil-based products.

Katie Mehnert, an ambassador with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Equity in Energy Initiative, takes a look at the challenges that an evolving energy market landscape and anxiety over the future role of the oil and gas industry bring to the industry’s workers and their communities. Mehnert, who is CEO of Ally Energy, a Houston company that seeks to increase equality in the energy industry, also discusses efforts to promote diversity through the energy transition.

Katie Mehnert is CEO of Ally Energy, an ambassador with the Department of Energy’s Equity in Energy Initiative, and a member of the National Petroleum Council. She formerly held senior management positions with BP and Shell in Houston, Texas.

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Energy Policy Now is produced by The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For all things energy policy, visit kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu

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