Posts under ‘Chevron’

The Guardian

Governments urged to act after oil giants accused of misleading public

Documents suggest Shell and BP staff privately downplayed public commitments on climate crisis

Alex Lawson Energy correspondent: Fri 16 Sep 2022 16.42 BST

Campaigners have urged governments to intervene after oil companies were accused of misleading the public about their commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Oil and gas companies including Britain’s Shell and BP were urged to “stop their deception” this week as the US House committee on oversight and reform released documents showing that oil industry executives privately downplayed their public messages on efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The memo claimed that internal BP documents highlighted how carbon capture and storage (CCS) – a nascent technology that involves inserting CO₂ emissions into underground rock formations – could “enable the full use of fossil fuels across the energy transition and beyond”.

Congressional investigators also unearthed an internal Shell email discussing carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) in which an executive said: “We want to be careful to not talk about CCUS as prolonging the life of oil, gas or fossil fuels writ large.” read more

The Guardian

Criticism intensifies after big oil admits ‘gaslighting’ public over green aims

Fury as ‘explosive’ files reveal largest oil companies contradicted public statements and wished bedbugs upon critical activists

Oliver Milman: Sat 17 Sep 2022 11.00 BST

Criticism in the US of the oil industry’s obfuscation over the climate crisis is intensifying after internal documents showed companies attempted to distance themselves from agreed climate goals, admitted “gaslighting” the public over purported efforts to go green, and even wished critical activists be infested by bedbugs.

The communications were unveiled as part of a congressional hearing held in Washington DC, where an investigation into the role of fossil fuels in driving the climate crisis produced documents obtained from the oil giants ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they wish bedbugs on you, then you win,” said Varshini Prakash, executive director of Sunrise. The organization accused Shell of a “legacy of violence and of ignoring the wellbeing of communities across the globe”. read more

Big Oil Companies Are Greenwashing, Congress Committee Says

by Bloomberg: Kevin Crowley and Ari Natter: Saturday, September 17, 2022

A House congressional committee said internal documents from Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Plc, and BP Plc reveal that their public promises to fight climate change amount to greenwashing.

A cache of emails, lobbying and preparation materials for senior executives obtained by the Committee on Oversight and Reform show that Big Oil climate pledges rely on “unproven technology, accounting gimmicks, and misleading language to hide the reality,” Subcommittee Chair Ro Khanna said in an emailed statement. read more

The New York Times

Shell, the Oil Giant, Will Sell Renewable Energy to Texans

The European oil company has been expanding into green energy even as many U.S. energy giants have kept their focus on fossil fuels.

By Clifford Krauss and Ivan Penn: June 7, 2022 Updated 3:13 p.m. ET

HOUSTON — Shell said on Tuesday that it would begin selling electricity generated from renewable sources to residents and businesses in Texas, a move that brings the European oil company’s shift to green energy to the U.S. market.

The announcement underscores a widening gulf between the strategies of European and U.S. oil companies as elected leaders and consumers demand that the energy industry do more to tackle climate change. European businesses including Shell, BP and TotalEnergies are seeking to expand into renewable energy, electric vehicle charging and other fast-growing businesses as U.S. companies like Exxon Mobil and Chevron mostly keep their focus on oil and gas while investing in capturing carbon from industrial plants and biofuels.

Shell, which already has electricity businesses in nine countries, plans to double the amount of electricity it sells by 2030. The company, which is based in London, is Europe’s largest oil and gas business by revenue and has operations in more than 70 countries, including gas stations, refineries and oil and gas fields. read more

The Guardian

Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown

Exclusive: Oil and gas majors are planning scores of vast projects that threaten to shatter the 1.5C climate goal. If governments do not act, these firms will continue to cash in as the world burns

by Damian Carrington and Matthew Taylor: Wed 11 May 2022

The world’s biggest fossil fuel firms are quietly planning scores of “carbon bomb” oil and gas projects that would drive the climate past internationally agreed temperature limits with catastrophic global impacts, a Guardian investigation shows. read more

CNBC

Big Oil braces for shareholder revolt over climate plans in proxy voting season

Sam Meredith@SMEREDITH19 PUBLISHED WED, MAY 11 2022

• Oil and gas majors on both sides of the Atlantic are scheduled to hold their annual general meetings in the coming weeks.
• The forthcoming proxy season comes amid intensifying pressure on Big Oil to set short- and medium-term targets in line with the landmark Paris Agreement.
• At present, not a single oil and gas major is aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal of curbing global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

LONDON — Some of the world’s largest corporate emitters face the prospect of a shareholder rebellion this month, with climate-related votes poised to spike throughout the proxy season.

Oil and gas majors on both sides of the Atlantic are scheduled to hold their annual general meetings in the coming weeks. Existing climate strategies are up for votes alongside a range of investor-led resolutions targeting emissions reductions. read more

Fortune

Shell CEO points out loopholes in Russian oil sanctions after announcing record profits

Planned embargoes on Russian oil may be thwarted due to the way the global crude supply chain works, Shell’s CEO explained on Thursday.

Speaking after Shell reported record quarterly profits, Ben van Beurden, the oil giant boss, told reporters that the framework of the world’s crude network left loopholes open in Western government bans on Russian oil.

This is because imported fuels like gasoline, which might have been made from Russian oil but refined outside of Russia, cannot always be traced back to their natural source. read more

The Guardian

The great greenwashing scam: PR firms face reckoning after spinning for big oil

A comprehensive study confirms that oil companies are largely all talk and no action when it comes to clean energy initiatives

Amy Westervelt: @amywestervelt: Fri 18 Feb 2022 11.00 GMT

This week a peer-reviewed study confirmed what many have suspected for years: major oil companies are not fully backing up their clean energy talk with action. Now the PR and advertising firms that have been creating the industry’s greenwashing strategies for decades face a reckoning over whether they will continue serving big oil. The study compared the rhetoric and actions on climate and clean energy from 2009 to 2020 from the world’s four largest oil companies – ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP. read more

The Telegraph

Oil and gas trade body drops ‘oil and gas’ from its name

By Matt Oliver: 31 January 2022 • 4:20pm

The trade group that represents UK oil and gas companies is dropping the words “oil and gas” from its name to reflect the ongoing rise of green energy.

Oil and Gas UK will be renamed Offshore Energies UK from February 14, the body said on Monday.

It follows a year-long strategic review by the group, which said the change reflects “the evolving nature of the industry”.

OGUK said its members, which include BP, British Gas owner Centrica, Shell and Chevron approved the name change in December. read more

The Guardian

Oil industry board members to testify to Congress on climate disinformation

Officials from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and BP have been summoned to appear before the House oversight committee in February

Reuters: Fri 21 Jan 2022 14.34 GMT

A US congressional committee has invited board members at four large oil companies to testify in February about the industry’s role in the climate crisis and spreading “disinformation”, turning up the heat on big oil after lawmakers grilled their CEOs last year. read more

THE TIMES

Break up big oil, says former BP boss Lord Browne

Emily Gosden, Energy Editor: Thursday January 06 2022, 12.01am

Oil majors should break themselves up into separate fossil fuel and low-carbon businesses to accelerate investment in the energy transition, the former boss of BP has said.

The comments by Lord Browne of Madingley will fuel debate over the strategies of Britain’s oil giants with Shell already facing calls from Third Point, the US activist investor, to break itself up.

Both Shell and BP have thus far argued that they are better off remaining as single companies so they can use the proceeds of their oil businesses to fund green investments. read more

Forbes:

Want To Stop Climate Change?

Buy Big Oil Stock

Jeroen Kraaijenbrink: Contributor: Leadership Strategy: 3 JAN 2022

EXTRACTS

In an age in which stock trading is no longer reserved to Wall-Street and a climate crisis is becoming a reality, sustainability-driven shareholder activism was bound to happen. And we see it happening, with increasing impact—especially in Big Oil, responsible for the largest share of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“Thanks to the votes of institutional investors for the Follow This climate resolutions, Shell, Equinor, BP, Phillips 66, and Chevron have reluctantly set climate ambitions covering Scope 3 already.” And, as Follow This announced in their recent investor briefing, they will file no less than eight climate resolutions in 2022, at Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, Occidental Petroleum, ExxonMobil, and Marathon Petroleum. read more

Was Shell’s response to Cambo reasonable?

SOME THOUGHTS FROM A LONG-TERM CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS WEBSITE, A RETIRED SENIOR SHELL OFFICIAL, BILL CAMPBELL

Given that US and China dominate the world’s CO2 emissions you have to ask the question was the Shell response to Cambo reasonable?

UK with its total CO2 emissions just under 3% of the World with the oil and gas sector in the UK contributing circa 25% of UK emissions, but with transport and electricity generation accounting for just over 52%, it makes you wonder since the UK may have to import more oil in the near to medium future (increasing transport emissions) in so doing.  read more

FORTUNE

Shell’s decision to leave the Netherlands is about keeping investors on its side in difficult times

The Dutch government is scrambling to find a way to make Royal Dutch Shell remain royal and Dutch after the oil and gas giant announced Monday that it had decided to up sticks from its home in the Hague and move its headquarters to London.

The Dutch government’s eagerness to retain the giant firm is not surprising—and exactly how Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his cabinet are trying to do so says a lot about which of Shell’s stated reasons for moving is the most important one. read more

CNBC

Governments and Big Oil were first. The next wave of climate lawsuits will target banks and boards

GLASGOW, Scotland — Financial institutions and individual board members could be the next targets of climate litigation cases, according to the campaigners who helped to secure a landmark courtroom victory against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.

It comes at a time when countries are scrambling to reach consensus in the final days of the COP26 climate summit. Negotiators from 197 countries are taking part in discussions with the goal of keeping the all-important global target of 1.5 degrees Celsius alive. read more

CNBC

Bill Gates predicts oil companies ‘will be worth very little’ in 30 years — here’s why

If you’re looking for an extremely long-term stock pick from billionaire Bill Gates, here it is: Avoid Big Oil.

As the world moves away from fossil fuels and adopts more clean and renewable energy sources, oil giants that have dominated markets for more than a century could be in trouble, the Microsoft co-founder said in a briefing at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday. read more