Social factors are represented by demography,

culture, ethnic structure, religion structure, inter-cultural relation, structure of family, ideological
view, literacy, urbanization, income distribution, migration, use of communication technology,
cultural view to different products, health consciousness, population growth rate, age
distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety and environment. Socio-cultural factors
relate to the values, beliefs and lifestyles of societies (and the world in general) where oil
companies operate. The social environment demonstrates demand and tastes, which changes with
fashion and disposable income which can provide both opportunities and threats for particular
companies.

The populations of developed countries that consume most of the fuels and energy, in these days,
are growing slow and are ageing very rapidly, resulting in diminish of the need for oil in future.
According to recent census report the population of the UK will increase in the near future due to
high immigrant rates and ageing population. Further investigation analyzed the population
structure and energy consumption in UK has gone down nearly 20% due to ageing population
which will have a major impact to the oil and gas industry in the UK. However, the growth of the
population, in developing countries, will impose the rise of the energy resources for growing
transport, petrochemical industries and electricity production needs. So the results will be that
the need from developing countries for oil will surpass the reduction of need from developed
countries, so the demand for oil will grow. Population Division of the Department of Economic
and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat has forecasted that the population of
developed countries will have a smaller population growth then the developing countries, which
will rise from 5372 millions people to 6939 millions people (higher rise been in south Asia) and
countries that are in transition will have a population in decrease, resulting in a growth of the
population from 6,927 millions in 2010 to 8,590 in 2035.
Urbanization is another factor that influences the need for energy, because urban population
consumes more energy resources for transportation, electric energy or petrochemicals (plastics,
fibers) than rural population. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social
Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat forecast that in 2035 the urban population will grow
with 50,69% and rural will decrease with 4,17%. In developing countries growing of urban
population will be larger than developed countries with almost 1432 millions. Rural population
in developed countries will decrease with almost 16 milions and in developing countries will
remain almost the same.
Companies social responsibility is yet another factor affecting companies operations in this
industry, mainly through their image. Therefore, many big oil corporations claim in their annual
statements that they are actively playing a dedicated role in supporting sustainable human
development in societies they operate and contributes to local communities development either
through investments in education (which creates skilled labour), or through training and
financing programs that stimulate local suppliers. Petrobras for instance, invests in different
social, cultural and environmental activities and admits that it depletes natural resources that are
part of everyones heritage, hence its duty to render accounts to society.
Changes in social trends can impact the demand for a firm's products and the availability and
willingness of individuals to work. In the UK, for example, the population has been ageing. This
has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees
because their staff is living longer. It also means some firms have started to recruit older
employees to tap into this growing labour pool. The ageing population also has impact on
demand: for example, demand for sheltered accommodation and medicines have increased
whereas demand for toys is falling. Furthermore, companies may change various management
strategies to adapt to these social trends (such as recruiting older workers).

Oil and petroleum industry has a great impact on social welfare, because it fuels the transports
and electricity production, activities that have a great impact on human development, production
of goods and services and communication. Most of the cultures all over the world see the oil
industry like a necessity for development and welfare, but there are segments within the
population who see the oil industry as an important factor of pollution of the environment.
In most of the countries especially developed ones; government imposes pollution fees and
pollution reduction laws and norms to petroleum industry, and complementary industries. Many
companies which make complementary products, like cars, invest in reduction of fuel
consumptions or start to produce hybrid products. But in the developing countries, the need for
development and growing rate of welfare is considered more important than environment
protection. After fears of global warming proved to be founded, social considerations and
responsibility of societies and governments resulted in increased focus on alternative energies
(wind, solar energy, biofuels, hydro, etc.). Even though the world demand for energy has been
increasing, especially the one for oil, the share of oil in the total energy consumption has been
decreasing in the last decades (its share stood at around 45% in the early 80s and its at 35%
today). This trend is expected to continue, where greener sources of energy are likely to increase
their share. Consumer attitude and opinion are changing in the modern day environment. People
in general started putting greater value to healthy living surroundings and are showing more
concern about the environment, this is called the "GREEN CULTURE". As new and more
environment-friendly fuels are developed and the cost of their production is reduced, the picture
is going to get less favorable for oil producers.
Furthermore, employees' health and safety is another political talking point. Due to the volatile
conditions in which employees have to work in and also substandard physical asset which could
potentially have a negative impact on the health and safety of the employees, would therefore
compromise the employer and public liability insurance cover.
Social cultural variation in the Indian context is very important for any company to work in it.
India basically can be divided into four major regions on the basis of language, demography and
also the income states. These are the south, north, east and west. The IOCL as a company also
operates differently in different regions and also use different languages to attract people towards
them. This is also, a reason for which the company has three refineries in the south region out of
eleven in total.