What has the petroleum industry ever done for us? On the positive legacies from the petroleum industry and the role of carbonate and evaporite studies in the energy transition

The burning of fossil fuels over the last 150 years has been the main driver of rising atmospheric CO 2 levels and global warming. The petroleum industry as an entity is often blamed for a significant share of these emissions, even those far downstream in the value chain. As a counterpoint to the prevailing narrative that the petroleum industry has caused nothing but global harm, this contribution argues for a more nuanced view by examining the industry's role in global warming within an historical and societal context, highlighting its positive contributions to society and the geosciences and, finally, showing how industry expertise in subsurface technologies and carbonate and evaporite geoscience are supporting the energy transition. Technologies and workflows developed and proved by the petroleum industry over many decades are becoming indispensable in diverse aspects of emerging subsurface sustainable energy programmes, and data collected globally by the industry are widely utilized in the exploration for and exploitation of geothermal energy and in ventures to sequester CO 2 or store sustainably sourced energy. Carbonate rocks and evaporites are playing a more prominent role in this changing energy landscape than many might credit, ranging from a current predominance in low- and medium-enthalpy geothermal schemes, to salt-cavern energy storage programmes and CO 2 sequestration in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers, or through mineral carbonation programmes. The petroleum industry's exploration for oil and gas has greatly advanced our understanding of Earth's geology. However, many aspects of the geosciences have become substantially defined by their utility to the industry, and with its inevitable decline, the funding for and direction of carbonate geoscience will inevitably shift, impacting both the nature of research and its practical applications.