The usefulness of sustainable business models: Analysis from oil and gas industry

Abstract

The management of offshore platforms at the end of their production phase is a complex issue for technological, socioeconomic, ecological and safety reasons. The decommissioning or reconversion of offshore platforms in the context of a circular economy (CE) will lead to new knowledge acquisition, changing values and changing behaviours towards sustainability consistent with the 'new' business objectives. Multiuse platforms at sea (MUPSs) represent an interesting solution for development of marine infrastructures, including areas in which to start and develop various creative economic activities that are in harmony with the needs of environmental protection including renewable energy, sea shellfish farming, decarbonisation plants, tourism, and recreation. Particularly, the research activity focused on a deep literature review of offshore platform decommissioning and sustainable business model (SBM) in a CE context. This allowed us to access the sustainable business model canvas (SBMC), a conceptual tool that represents a holistic view of the different managerial multiuse options and their social and environmental impacts. Besides, to test the SBMC, we adopt an empirical analysis by semi-structured questionnaires given to a sample of stakeholders in the decommissioning industry. The methodology was enriched by interviews with key informants to better investigate the business ecosystem and the feasibility of decommissioning applied to the case of an Italian offshore platform located in the Adriatic Sea. This article aims to contribute to supporting SBMs development following a holistic approach in relationship with all stakeholders and propose a multi-criteria decision-making analysis for evaluating and comparing alternative decommissioning options.

Intelligent Digital Platform for Community-Based Rural Tourism—A Novel Concept Development in Peru

“…(b) Key Partners: A network of reliable and efficient partners is crucial to minimize risks [104], especially in CRT. An extensive list of elements must be considered during the process of choosing strategic partners, such as linking to the value proposition, selection criteria, and developing a win-win relationship [105]. In this case study, the main network of members are rural entrepreneurs and other actors related to the CRT.…”

“…(f) Channels: Elements that define how the product or service will reach the customer segment and convey the value propositions broadly and efficiently [104,105]. This research identified two main distribution channels for the case study, face-to-face and online.…”

Towards a resilient perspective for the future of offshore platforms. Insights from a data driven approach

“…Specifically, offshore platforms may be reused for several scopes such as marine research facilities, renewable energy systems, aquaculture farms or tourism points of interest (Chandler et al , 2017; Buck and Langan, 2017; Barile et al , 2017). In this direction, the new perspective of a sustainable decommissioning (Basile et al , 2021; Capobianco et al , 2021), based on the readaptation of these structures for sustainable aims, could bring several social benefits from an employment and local entrepreneurship perspective (Froehlich et al , 2017). However, the citizens’ perception regarding the future of the offshore platforms has not yet been extensively assessed, although the environmental and social impact of the decommissioning is growing and requiring a clear strategy on the government side.…”

Value Co-Creation Practices in the Decommissioning of Offshore Platforms: A Case Study Approach

“…According to BCG (Zeldovich, 2019), it was estimated that more than 50,000 offshore wells and 10,000 offshore structures will be decommissioned worldwide along with hundreds of thousands of onshore wells, facilities and sites. However, due to the decommissioning costs and environmental impacts of the complete removal, many operators are considering alternative uses of these assets by creating MUPs according to the value co-creation principles (Basile et al, 2021;Capobianco et al, 2021;Loia et al, 2021). Indeed, scholars have agreed that the reconversion of these platforms can deliver better environmental outcomes than the complete removal in terms of biodiversity enhancement, provision of reef habitat and protection from bottom trawling (Henrion et al, 2015;Lakhal et al, 2009).…”