Oil and gas explainer videos help people follow industrial processes, project activity and arguments about the sector. These examples cover carbon capture, LNG, tailings and Indigenous business relationships.
By
Larry Mutenda
| What are the best oil and gas explainer video examples? Strong oil and gas explainer video examples include Re-energizing Canada for a policy argument, ExxonMobil for carbon capture, Woodside Energy for the LNG process, the Alberta Energy Regulator for public education, Contruent for project controls software and Imperial Oil for Indigenous business relationships. |
Oil and gas explainer videos are short videos that explain industrial processes, projects and arguments about the sector. Much of the work happens underground, inside plants or across long supply chains. Animation can show what cameras cannot.
This article looks at six oil and gas explainer videos from Re-energizing Canada, ExxonMobil, Woodside Energy, Alberta Energy Regulator, Contruent and Imperial Oil. For each one, I describe what the video covers, who it speaks to and what other energy companies can take from it. After the examples, I cover visualizing underground and in-plant processes and stakeholder, regulator and public audiences. Then I explain how to plan your own oil and gas explainer video.
An industrial system, an economic argument and a business relationship can all be difficult to see from a site visit. These examples address those different subjects without treating them as interchangeable evidence.
Here is a quick overview of the six videos in this article, grouped by how each company uses the video. The table links to each example below.
We picked videos that each show a different job an oil and gas explainer can do: a policy argument, a technology explainer, a process explainer, regulator education, project controls software and community relations.
The lead example, Re-energizing Canada, and the Contruent example come from the Creamy Animation video library. The other four videos are published on each company’s own YouTube channel and were publicly available when we checked them in October 2026. We describe each video from its own content and description, and we credit any figures to the company that published them.
| # | Company | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Re-energizing Canada | Lead example: policy argument |
| 2 | ExxonMobil | Technology explainer |
| 3 | Woodside Energy | Process explainer |
| 4 | Alberta Energy Regulator | Regulator public education |
| 5 | Contruent | Project controls software |
| 6 | Imperial Oil | Community and Indigenous relations |
Re-energizing Canada presents a policy position about the sector’s future. A video about an LNG process has a different responsibility. The audience needs to recognize whether it is hearing a forecast, a process account or a company’s statement about its work.
The Re-energizing Canada video is one of the videos in the Creamy Animation video library.
Re-energizing Canada’s video argues that current oil and gas profits can obscure a difficult future. The video describes an expectation of declining global demand as clean energy expands. It also presents concerns about gas as an affordable source and about the preparedness of Canada’s sector and economy.
The communication purpose is to introduce a position in a public policy debate.
The video argues that managing decline could help protect jobs, diversify the economy and support communities. Its audience includes people considering the economic and social implications of change in the sector. The runtime is 1:25 and the format is 2D animation.
I consider a video like this for a policy page or stakeholder discussion where the underlying assumptions can also be examined. The production lesson is to make the chain of reasoning understandable. A forecast should be identifiable as a forecast. A proposed response should be distinguishable from a demonstrated outcome. Other energy organizations can use animation to describe economic relationships while giving viewers enough context to assess the perspective being presented. Clarity is especially important when the subject involves competing expectations and long time horizons.
A resident or business audience hears about carbon capture and storage before understanding the category. A project announcement can arrive before the concept itself is clear. A short introduction can establish what CCS is and what it is used for.
ExxonMobil addresses that basic topic in 50 seconds. Without the category-level starting point, discussion of a particular site can assume knowledge the audience does not yet have.
This differs from Re-energizing Canada’s sector forecast. One introduces a technology concept and the other presents an economic argument. The purpose needs to remain clear so a basic technology video is not treated as evidence for every claim about a project or policy.
ExxonMobil introduces what carbon capture and storage is and what it is used for. The 50-second video serves people beginning with the concept. Energy organizations can learn from providing category grounding before asking a public audience to interpret project-specific detail.
A customer or stakeholder sees an LNG plant without seeing the production pathway. Exterior views do not connect the industrial stages into a process. Animation can address the sequence beyond what is visible from one location.
Woodside’s video covers how it produces LNG for Asia-Pacific customers. Without a process account, the relationship between the facility and the delivered product can remain abstract.
The nearly six-minute scope differs from the brief CCS introduction. It follows a production subject rather than defining a category. The video’s role is also separate from operating instructions for plant personnel, which require a more specific task and technical context.
Woodside uses animation to cover how it produces LNG for Asia-Pacific customers. The 5:55 video introduces the production process. Give a multi-stage pathway enough room. Exterior facility footage alone does not convey the work.
A member of the public hears the term oil sands tailings in a discussion and wants to understand the subject. The terminology can become a barrier before the conversation reaches any particular site. A public account can give the topic an accessible entry point.
The Alberta Energy Regulator uses two hosts in its Conversations That Matter series to discuss tailings. That introductory context means audiences do not meet the term only within project disputes or technical documents.
The source also matters. A regulator’s public information role differs from a company’s project presentation or a policy advocate’s argument. The video should be read within that role rather than used as proof of an individual operation’s performance.
Two hosts discuss oil sands tailings in the Alberta Energy Regulator’s Conversations That Matter series. The video introduces the topic through a public discussion format. The takeaway: give an unfamiliar technical subject a conversational entry point and keep the source clear.
Contruent’s video speaks to project managers on complex oil and gas construction projects. It names the pressures they face: supporting infrastructure such as pipelines, refineries and storage, changing market conditions, supply chain disruption and regulatory change.
It then introduces lifecycle cost management software that keeps project data in one place, with real-time cost and schedule updates and Power BI dashboards for milestones. The 3D motion graphics give a software product an industrial setting. The lesson is to show the project problem in the energy setting before showing the dashboard.
A company discusses Indigenous business development and the audience needs more than a broad statement of commitment. A relationship becomes more concrete when the participating business has a voice in the account. The scope still needs to remain with the relationship actually described.
Seven Lakes discusses working with Imperial in the Cold Lake video. Imperial also states a cumulative investment amount. That context keeps the corporate claim connected to the business relationship it describes.
This is not a process animation or a sector forecast. Its subject is commercial participation. The short format addresses one relationship and a company claim rather than every aspect of Indigenous or community relations.
Seven Lakes, an Indigenous business, talks about working with Imperial. Imperial says it has invested more than $1.5 billion with Indigenous businesses since 2012. The example gives relationship-focused communication a participant’s voice.
Choose a cross-section, flow diagram or spatial model according to the relationship that needs describing. Keep changes in scale clear. A viewer should understand which parts are schematic and which represent actual geometry.
I ask the technical team to check the sequence and labels before detailed animation. Remove unnecessary components while preserving the connections that affect meaning. A public overview can simplify an industrial process without implying that it is an operating guide.
Choose the boundaries of the process before drawing the system. A viewer needs to know what enters, what changes and what leaves the part being explained. Keep adjacent operations in view only when they are necessary for that understanding.
For an underground subject, distinguish depth and scale from visual emphasis. An enlarged component may improve readability while changing the apparent proportions. Make those choices intentional and review them with the technical owner. The audience should be able to understand the relationship without assuming that every element is represented at its actual size or distance.
A specialist may need technical assumptions. A resident may need to understand the project’s relevance to a place. A public policy audience may need to follow an argument and examine its evidence. These purposes call for different briefs.
Re-energizing Canada is practical as a policy communication example. It should not be described as a neutral operations tutorial. Make the point of view explicit and let the audience distinguish video, forecast and advocacy.
Give each audience an appropriate route to more detail. A specialist may need technical documentation. A public audience may need a plain-language project page. A policy discussion may need the evidence and assumptions behind its forecast. The video can introduce those questions without answering all of them.
When a relationship is central to the message, review the wording with the responsible people. A statement about a company initiative should not be expanded into a claim about every participant’s view. Precision helps the video remain practical in a subject where the interests and responsibilities of different groups may differ.
Choose a category definition, site account or policy argument. ExxonMobil’s short CCS introduction and the Re-energizing Canada forecast operate at different levels. Define the evidence and scope appropriate to each.
Identify whether the audience is learning the concept, assessing an operation or considering a public position. Tailings information from a regulator has a different source role from a company’s project claim.
Keep company figures attached to the operation and period described. Distinguish policy forecasts from observed results. For relationship content, preserve the participating business’s account without implying endorsement beyond what the notes support.
Related reading: explainer videos guide.
Use process animation for stages that exterior footage cannot connect. For economic arguments, represent assumptions and relationships clearly. Avoid implying physical or predictive precision that the source material does not provide.
Related reading: explainer video cost.
Keep site status and policy assumptions available beside the video. Maintain current context for older project material. Community and Indigenous business content needs the relevant relationship context rather than a generic product destination.
Use a reviewed cross-section or schematic that reveals the relationship needed for the video. Identify simplifications and changes in scale. A detailed model is practical only when it helps the intended viewer understand the process.
Audiences can include employees, specialists, residents and people following policy discussions. Each needs different context. Define the audience’s question before deciding how much operational or economic detail to include.
Match the detail to the decision. A public introduction needs clear definitions and a bounded video. A specialist audience may need assumptions and technical relationships. Avoid compressing essential context simply to reach a shorter runtime.
Identify it as a forecast and describe the assumptions relevant to the message. Keep the source and time context available. Do not turn a projected outcome into a statement that the outcome has already occurred.
A technology or process introduction often works in one to two minutes. Project and policy videos can run longer when the viewer needs the full context.
Yes. Contruent shows the project pressures in oil and gas construction first, then introduces its cost management software. The industry setting makes the software easier to place.
Use figures when they are sourced and attributed to the company or agency that published them. Say what period they cover.
3D suits equipment, plants and underground formations. 2D suits concepts, policy arguments and data. Choose by what the viewer needs to see.
Make the process or argument easy to follow and its context easy to recognize. A practical energy explainer gives viewers a clearer basis for their next question.
Larry is the founder and Chief Storyteller at Creamy Animation, founded in 2009. He leads a team that creates story-driven videos for businesses and nonprofits. 15+ years in video strategy and production, specializing in SaaS, B2B, and nonprofit storytelling. A marketer, designer, and animator, Larry has overseen the production of more than 1,500 videos for Fujitsu, Logitech, Warner Brothers, NFL, Blockdaemon, Astronomer, Canonical, and 370+ others.
For Larry, God is first, and everything else is a blessing that comes from serving Him. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife and three kids, playing the piano, or pursuing his filmmaking side hustle.
