Inclusive Green Development in China’s Petroleum and Gas Industry: Regional Disparities and Diagnosis of Drivers

According to the “Five Development Concepts” of the new national development plan, the study of inclusive green development in the petroleum and gas sector (IGDPG) is crucial for enhancing production efficiency and safeguarding the environment and resources. This study constructs the IGDPG indicator system from industrial development, social opportunity equity, poverty and income inequality reduction, and green ecology dimensions, and the CRITIC Portfolio empowerment-TOPSIS method was used to measure the level of IGDPG in the eastern, central, and western regions using panel data. The Dagum Gini coefficient method was applied to analyze regional disparities and their causes, while the obstacle degree model and the Tobit model were used to identify internal and external factors of IGDPG. We found that IGDPG levels in the three regions showed fluctuating growth, and the eastern region (0.394) had much higher IGDPG levels than the central (0.337) and western (0.355) regions. The overall Gini coefficient for IGDPG is small, while inter-regional disparities are the primary source of overall disparities, and the intra-regional disparities of the three main areas exhibit a declining tendency. In terms of internal factors, social opportunity equity has been identified as the primary obstacle constraining IGDPG. Externally, factors such as industrial cluster, industrial upgrading, urbanization rate, and digital economy exhibit a facilitative effect on IGDPG, whereas environmental burdens exert an inhibitory influence. Moreover, all of these internal and external drivers demonstrate significant regional variations. Therefore, breaking regional restrictions and promoting the coordinated development of IGDPG so as to improve China’s IGDPG level as a whole is the forecasted trend.