It’s something research agencies can forget in delivering their reports – stuffing them full of reams of data and charts, but neglecting to highlight what’s most crucial to the people commissioning the research, she said.

“If research is not tailored to the specific problem, interest starts to drift,” she warned.

Asked what skills Shell is looking for in research agencies now and in the future, Faulkner noted that the company was now using more in-house expertise. That doesn’t mean Shell will stop using external agencies, she said.

Instead, the company is looking for researchers that have the expertise to integrate their own research with Shell’s internally generated knowledge and third-party information sources.