Shell plans to maintain oil production levels until 2030, the British energy major said on Wednesday, prompting an outcry from green campaigners who also criticized a bigger payout to shareholders. of
Shell had previously flagged crude production cuts of between one and two percent per year as part of the unveiling of its carbon neutrality plan based on 2021 and 2019 output.
The group said on Wednesday that it had already cut average daily liquids production to 1.5 million barrels per day by the end of 2022 – thanks to asset sales.
Our goal of reducing oil production by 2030 has not changed. A Shell spokesman said we had just met it eight years ago, adding that in 2021 the company stressed that the target would be “achieved through the diversion and natural depletion” of oil fields.
Shell said it cut production by 21 percent from 2019, which equates to a two percent annual decline until 2030.
Oil and gas giants are trying to move away from clean energy and fossil fuels, but they have been accused of “greenwashing,” or marketing actions that are climate-friendly.
Shell rival BP said in February that it expects to boost profits by 2030 by investing more in both renewable energy and hydrocarbons, slowing its own transition.
Shell climate ‘U-turn’
Campaign group Global Witness on Wednesday called Shell’s announcement a “climate-destroying U-turn” and urged it to invest far more in clean energy.
Shell’s net profit hit a company record of $42.3 billion last year as oil and gas prices rose after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a major energy producer.
Jonathan Noronha Gaunt, senior campaigner at Global Witness, said record profits due to the energy crisis should spur green investment.
“Instead, it’s a shareholder payout and a double-down on climate-destroying fossil fuels. It will always be profitable for polluters, people and the planet.
Shell also revealed it will pay at least $5 billion in share buybacks in the second half of this year after a bumper profit.
The group will additionally reduce capital expenditures by between $22-25 billion for 2024 and 2025, and reduce annual operating costs by $2-3 billion by mid-decade.
“Efficiency, discipline and simplicity will be our guiding principles as we allocate capital to enhance shareholder distribution, while enabling the energy transition,” said chief executive Val Savon.
Shell insisted that its overall target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 remains intact despite heavy criticism from environmental pressure groups.
“From wildfires in Canada to droughts and floods in East Africa, the effects of climate change are already destroying lives and livelihoods around the world,” Charlie Cronk, senior climate adviser at Greenpeace UK, said on Wednesday. said to
“Yet Shell and their rivals are determined to squeeze every last drop of profit from their dirty oil and gas operations.”
Speaking on Tuesday, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg warned that failure to end fossil fuel use would be a “death sentence” for millions of people around the world – and urged politicians to take more ambitious steps. .
“It will be impossible for us to stick to the 1.5 degree limit without a rapid, equitable, fossil fuel phase-out,” Thunberg told a press conference.
She was referring to the 2015 Paris Agreement, in which world leaders pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough to limit the Earth’s annual temperature increase to no more than 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius, and that It was to stop global warming.
Global oil demand could peak before the end of the decade as the energy crisis accelerates the transition to cleaner technologies, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.
The Paris-based agency predicted in its ‘Oil 2023’ medium-term market report that annual demand growth will slow sharply over the next five years, from 2.4 million barrels a day this year to 400,000 in 2028. will reach bpd.
