Work

Residential proximity to oil and gas development and socioeconomic conditions: a comparative analysis of 33 countries

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Fossil fuels continue to dominate the global energy supply. As emerging technologies drive up global energy consumption (e.g. cryptocurrency mining, data centers), identifying which populations live in residential proximity to oil and gas extraction will become increasingly important. Yet, no prior study has done so on an international scale. We combine the Oil and Gas Infrastructure Mapping database with the Global Human Settlement Layer to estimate residential proximity to oil and gas wells across 33 countries in 2024. We further link these data with indicators of income and social deprivation to examine disparities in population proximity. We estimate that 150.9 million people reside within 3 km of 4.5 million oil and gas wells across 33 countries, representing 10% of their population. Country-level residential proximity to oil and gas wells is highest in the Netherlands (38.4%), Canada (33.4%), and the United States (31.3%). Of the 33 countries, 15 had populations exposed to wells across borders, including 427 thousand Mexican residents near U.S. wells, and 185 thousand U.S. residents living near wells outside national borders. This is the first large-scale, multi-country quantification of residential exposure to oil and gas extraction, providing an evidence base for future population health research and policies to reduce risks and address energy-related inequities worldwide.

Source: Environmental Research Letters

DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aeae53