From refinery to city: The role of human factors and digital transition in sustainable oil and gas operations for urban systems

The oil and gas sector's digital transformation, driven by Industry 4.0 technologies, has implications that extend beyond industrial boundaries to adjacent urban systems, where refinery safety, emissions, and reliability directly affect public health and energy security. This study analyzes the impact of Big Data (BD), Internet of Things (IoT), and Physical-Cyber Systems (PCS) on human factors (HF) and their combined effect on sustainable operations (SO) within Indonesia's oil and gas sector. Using a quantitative approach, data from 180 refinery operators were analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA). The results indicate that BD, IoT, and PCS positively and significantly enhance HF, and both HF and managerial initiative (MI) significantly drive SO. However, MI does not moderate the HF-SO relationship. Critically, FsQCA reveals that superior SO performance is not determined by single factors but requires the synergistic configuration of BD, IoT, PCS, and HF. This study contributes a nuanced, configurational model that shifts the focus from isolated technological adoption to the essential socio-technical integration needed for sustainable industrial operations, providing actionable insights for managers and policymakers.