<![CDATA[Background: The energy sector is highly vulnerable to oil price uncertainty, financial market fluctuations, and sustainability demands, making investment decisions increasingly dependent on both economic factors and ESG performance. Objective: This study aims to examine the effects of oil price uncertainty, financial market fluctuations, and ESG performance on the investment policies of oil and gas companies in ASEAN and East Asia. Methods: This study employs a quantitative approach using panel data regression. The sample comprises 35 oil and gas companies listed on stock exchanges in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, China, and South Korea from 2016 to 2024, yielding 315 firm-year observations, of which 260 are available for models including ESG. Investment policy is measured using the ratio of capital expenditure to total assets. Results: Oil price uncertainty has a negative and statistically significant effect on investment policy, both partially (coefficient = −0.1602, p = 0.009) and in the full model (coefficient = −0.1464, p = 0.025). Financial market fluctuations are negative and significant when estimated separately (coefficient = −1.2011, p = 0.035) but become insignificant in the full model once oil price uncertainty is controlled for (coefficient = −0.2546, p = 0.679). ESG performance shows a positive but statistically insignificant coefficient across all specifications (full model: coefficient = 0.0003, p = 0.286). The full model yields a Wald χ² of 13.84 (p = 0.032) with an overall R² of 0.074. Conclusion: Oil price uncertainty is the most dominant and consistent factor constraining corporate investment among energy companies in ASEAN and East Asia, consistent with real options theory.]]>
