Assessing the impact of oil and gas trading, foreign direct investment inflows, and economic growth on carbon emission for OPEC member countries

The exploration of oil and gas contributes to green-house-gas. While exploring countries ensures economic growth, their activities also contribute to environmental pollution through carbon emissions. The 13-member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are the world's most important oil-producing and exporting countries. Since the safety of a country's oil and gas resources is related to the country's economic growth and environmental protection, this study aims at assessing the impact of oil and gas trading, foreign direct investment inflows, and economic growth on carbon emission for OPEC member countries. Using secondary data from 2000 to 2018, the authors utilized Stata and EViews statistical software for the empirical studies. The fully modified least squares (FMOLS) and the generalized methods of moments estimators were used for the multiple regression. The findings from the multiple regression analysis revealed a positive but statistically insignificant relationship between oil and gas export and carbon emissions. On the contrary, an inverse relationship that is statistically significant was found between foreign direct investment inflows and carbon emissions. Also, a positive and statistically significant relationship was found between economic growth and carbon emissions for OPEC member countries. The research findings contribute to previous literature on petroleum exploration activities and give clues to policy-makers and stakeholders in putting in measures to ensure economic growth while promoting environmental protection for OPEC member countries.