The Global Oil & Gas Exit List: Cutting the Industry's Financial Flows

The Global Oil & Gas Exit List (GOGEL) is the most comprehensive publicly accessible database on the global oil and gas industry. It lists approximately 2,000 companies that account for about 95% of global oil and gas production.

GOGEL reveals which companies are planning new oil and gas fields, LNG terminals, pipelines, and gas-fired power plants—in other words, which ones continue to prioritize fossil fuel development over climate protection.

GOGEL creates transparency, and this helps banks, insurers, investors, and policymakers take responsibility and divest from fossil fuel business models. This makes GOGEL an important tool for phasing out oil and gas.

More than 270 financial institutions worldwide are already using GOGEL. Activists, journalists, and researchers also rely on GOGEL data.

Learn more about GOGEL

Do you have questions?

Nils Bartsch

Head of Research

nils@urgewald.org

Katrin Ganswindt

Research Team Lead

katrin@urgewald.org

Sophia Heyne

GOGEL Research Team

sophia.heyne@urgewald.org

Wertschöpfungskette Öl und Gas — GOGEL covers companies along the complete oil & gas value chain: from extraction through transportation to power plant operations.

Milestones

2021: GOGEL goes live

We release the first GOGEL at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26). Nearly 200 financial institutions start using the data in its first year to examine their fossil fuel-related business activities and develop policies for phasing out oil and gas.

2022: Checking 1.5°C alignment with GOGEL

For the first time ever, GOGEL makes it possible to verify whether oil and gas companies are aligning their production activities with the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recognized net-zero scenario—and to what extent their expansion activities jeopardize the 1.5°C limit.

2025: GOGEL strengthens European consumer protection

Many allegedly “green” investment funds do not live up to their claims. To put a stop to greenwashing, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), an EU-wide agency dedicated to strengthening investor protection and financial market stability, implements guidelines for fund managers. The authority uses GOGEL to assess whether these guidelines are effective.

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How we work

Behind the Data: the GOGEL team conducting research at the Berlin office. Throughout the year, our experts meticulously gather information on the oil and gas industry from annual reports, company websites, and government sources.

Pressekonferenz auf der COP27 — Urgewald press conference at COP27 in Egypt.

Each year, Urgewald publishes up-to-date data on approximately 2,000 oil and gas companies. We present this data at the UN Climate Conferences—often in conjunction with regional analyses of oil and gas expansion.

In recent years, these have included reports on fossil fuel expansion in Africa (photo) and Latin America & the Caribbean.

Our data has a tremendous impact when used in direct engagement with banks, insurers, investors, and policymakers. The GOGEL team delivers dozens of presentations and webinars each year and answers hundreds of questions. Together with users, we explore new applications for the data, such as in the context of passive investing. For example, GOGEL can serve as the basis for developing new, fossil-free exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Eisbär in der Arktis — GOGEL data shows, among other things, which companies are drilling for oil and gas in the sensitive Arctic ecosystem. Photo: Pixabay CC0

The Urgewald team continues to develop the Global Oil & Gas Exit List. The list already includes 30 different metrics for each company to track their oil and gas operations: For example, it shows which companies use especially harmful extraction methods such as fracking, or drill for oil and gas in sensitive ecosystems such as the Arctic and the deep sea. The team is currently working on making the data even more useful for identifying and monitoring greenwashing and climate risks.

Changing the world with GOGEL

From small investors to financial giants, Urgewald’s data creates transparency and influences the way money flows around the world.

Zitat des französischen Vermögensverwalters Ostrum — A quote by French asset manager Ostrum.

Financial institutions around the world are developing their sustainability policies based on Urgewald data. Banks, insurers, and investors are ending their support for companies on the GOGEL list. Some, like Ostrum Asset Management in France, publicly recommend our database to the financial sector.

Finanz-Analysen, die auf GOGEL basieren — Financial analyses based on GOGEL.

Every year, together with our partners, we publish comprehensive analyses of the financial flows behind the oil and gas industry. We disclose which banks, insurance companies, and investors support companies listed on GOGEL. We do this to generate public pressure on financial institutions to divest from oil and gas.

Protest gegen den Gasausbau in den Philippinen — Protest against gas buildout in the Philippines. Foto: Mateus de Sousa

Journalists, researchers, and civil society organizations around the world use our data to shine a light on the oil and gas industry. In this way, GOGEL lays the groundwork for investigative reporting, scientific studies, and campaigns calling for an oil and gas phase-out.

In the “Faire Fonds” database, private investors can check whether their fund, which is advertised as “green”, invests in companies on the Global Oil and Gas Exit List.

"Faire Fonds" (in German)