Channels, Fall 2018

Channels • 2018 • Volume 3 • Number 1 Page 121 positively perceive Russia or its NOC due to recent and historical tensions, thus the conclusions of Brazil’s Petrobras holding a better positive perception may be misleading. Despite this limitation, it is still interesting to note the couple of articles where Gazprom still is mentioned favorably. Finally, this project is qualitative in nature and although measures were developed to ensure reliable observations, future study in this topic may draw further information that may affect the methodology of what data was observed and the resulting conclusions. An area of future study would be to expand the number of case studies to other major NOCs and their state governments. Of particular interest would be Canada, other Latin and South American countries, and developing Eastern European and Caucasus nations. Further research could also be developed to the other two levels of analysis not conducted in this study, the private investor and international organizations. Additionally, this research study revealed the significant role of public environmental perceptions as in the case with Brazil’s “greening” of Petrobras (Gabrielli, 2009) and international concerns towards Russian expansion into the Arctic as reported by the New York Times (Myers, 2013). Yet in conclusion, it is obvious NOCs and states have placed an emphasis on the development of regulation and practices for protection of the environment. However, this environmental concern often holds a much lower level of importance compared to the national agendas of energy development and foreign policy objectives.