Strategic Importance of Analyzing Social Consequences of Theoretical Views Governing Development of Oil and Gas Industry

Oil and gas industry is strategically important for Iran and, therefore, it is very important to know about social context of its development as well as the quality of the interaction between the oil industry and local communities living in oil-rich and operational regions. The present paper first discusses evidence about the discontent of local communities with the method used for the development of the oil industry in those regions before going into the reasons behind that discontent and analyzing theoretical approaches underlying oil industry development method and clarifying the root cause of the problem. The basic argument of the paper is that development planning using growth pole model, which is demand-based, has caused local social capacities for participation in the development process to be ignored. The paper also delves into certain institutional processes which have led to problems in oil-rich and operational regions of the oil industry to delineate their impact on the existing problems. The paper reviews some new approaches to developmental planning which can lead to positive interaction with local communities and create strategic social security needed for the development of oil industry in oil-rich regions.