The oil and gas industry must expand their focus beyond the oil price crisis and be ready for a low carbon transition.

That’s according to PwC’s new report, which highlights the “vital” role the sector plays in the future energy system.

The ‘New Energy Futures’ report sets out a framework to help companies navigate in an “increasingly complex and volatile global market” in the next five to 15 years.

It proposes potential futures for the industry where the level of disruption and the pace of change fluctuate.

The first scenario includes limited government intervention to encourage collaboration between operators and service providers to drive efficiency and reduce costs.

Under this, gas becomes an increasingly essential transition fuel.

Another scenario looks at demand for cleaner energy driving the transition towards a low carbon world and resulting in significant private investment in greener technologies.

In the third future scenario, energy efficiency inccreases and the expansion of renewable energy demand accelerates as governments follow through on COP21 with regulation, incentives and direct investment.

This puts further pressure on fossil fuel providers who need to find new ways of working, the report adds.

Jan-Willem Velthuijsen, Chief Economist at PwC in Europe said: “Megatrends are transforming industry and this makes navigating the future increasingly challenging. The oil and gas industry is facing a complex and difficult environment today, with historically low commodity prices, among other factors. The future will likely bring even greater uncertainty, given potential disruptive forces.

“While in practice, no single future perspective can be neatly ‘ring fenced’, this framework enables business to consider various tangible scenarios. It allows them to reassess their current strategy and plans with implications for the operating model, partnering strategy, resourcing and technical capabilities and other areas.”