Motivating Sustainable Transitioning: Enabling and Limiting Factors Within the Petroleum Industry. A Qualitative Analysis of Enabling and Limiting Factors for Sustainable Transitioning Within the Petroleum Industry

Sammanfattning: The increasing global awareness and enormity of the climate crisis has led to intensified pressure towards multiple industrial sectors to commit to a sustainable transition, one of them being the petroleum industry. Being the manufacturers and suppliers of fossil fuels they have the power to shape the market. However, this demands that the petroleum companies have the motivation to proceed with sustainable transitions. Therefore, it has become of greater importance to understand the foundation of such motivation as well as identifying potential limitations; to encourage sustainable initiatives. This thesis therefore aims to shed light on the motivational dynamics behind pursuing sustainable transitions within the petroleum industry from the perspective of Sweden's largest petroleum company Preem. A qualitative study has been conducted through interviews and with a smaller internal questionnaire at Preem, which was qualitatively analyzed. Through the use of the widely accepted theory of motivation, the Expectancy Value Theory, the authors identified multiple sub-dimensions under expectancy and value that influence motivation. These sub-dimensions were found to be enabling under favorable conditions, but could also be limiting factors. For example, the regulatory environment could be both enabling and limiting depending on current legislation.