F-list 2026: agencies increased contracts with oil companies to 1,321

"The fossil fuel industry sees that it is not needed for our future. It sees that the end of the road is near," said Nayantara Dutta, head of research at Clean Creatives. "So today we are seeing very sophisticated manipulation tactics in campaign messaging."

According to her, one such tactic is linking artificial intelligence and its progress to the necessity of fossil fuels. Oil companies position AI "as a reason to keep fossil fuels relevant" and embed it into the broader narrative around technology.

"The combination of all these themes leads to a message about AI as something inseparable from nationalism, energy security and future technologies," Dutta said. "They are essentially justifying continued investment in fossil fuels as technological innovation through AI, when in reality it is excessive extraction."

An illustration of this thesis is Chevron's 2025 spot: against footage of American landmarks and rocket launches, a voiceover says: "AI is already here — the next big leap. And Chevron is working to power it."

Oil marketing varies by country and relies on different rhetorical motifs. In recent years, the F-list has expanded its geographic scope and identified campaigns and contracts in countries of the Global South. For the first time, this year's list includes a contract from Central Asia. Dutta noted: "We worked very hard to find as many contracts in Africa as possible."

In the Global South, according to Dutta's observations, oil and gas campaigns "tie oil and gas to cultural and religious holidays." One example is an AI-generated Ramadan advertisement from ADNOC Distribution, a fuel distributor based in Abu Dhabi.

However, despite producers' attempts to tie their interests to AI, advertising created by the technology itself remains "at an early stage" for now.

"Creative agencies, despite the spread of AI, still play a very important role here," Dutta emphasized. "AI is more of a platform and a talking point used to advance the discussion of fossil fuel dominance, rather than something that actually affects the creative product at the moment."