Shell says the oil is about to come out.
In a statement on Thursday, the fossil fuel giant said that “its oil production peaked in 2019” and that we can now expect it to gradually decrease by 1 or 2% per year. Shell also said that its total carbon emissions reached a maximum in 2018 at 1.7 gigatons.
The statement does not come as a total surprise. The oil market has shrunk for years, and since the covid-19 pandemic began last year, fuel prices have gone from bad to worse. catastrophic evil. Last autumn International Energy Agency predicted a “treacherous” path for the industry. And in September, his energy giant colleague BP SAPS it is possible that the world has already reached the peak of oil. Shell’s own chief financial officer he suggested in the May announcement, when he told investors that the company had experienced “a major destruction of demand that we do not even know will return” and, in a short time, Shell write $ 22 billion in its balance sheets. But still, this is the first time he makes such an announcement.
With oil declining, Shell has announced in September, that it will achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2050, but did not say much about the intermediate targets. The energy company now says it will build on this plan by launching an “accelerated strategy” to phase out emissions.
But typically Shell, the real plan to get there is damn weak. It includes promises to rapidly increase investment in solar energy and hydrogen, but also to invest money in biofuels“What the research shows.” just as polluting as gas and diesel. He said he plans to produce biofuels and hydrogen by up to 10% of its portfolio by 2030. Even more insulting, the company also plans to greatly increase its liquefied natural gas production by adding 7 million tonnes of new capacity. until the middle of this decade. And while the company says it will show up to $ 3 billion in “short-term” renewables, it still spends tens of billions on oil and gas exploration each year.
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Increasing the production of dirty energy will make it quite difficult to reduce emissions, which is why Shell he said last week that it will increase the use of “nature-based” forest offsets and carbon capture and storage. The company is already doing this to produce Neutral carbon natural gas. But carbon offsets are not simply real climate solutions. Offsetting greenhouse gas pollution does not effectively stop emissions. In addition, offset projects were also a source of horrible environmental justice since they often resulted in people moving from their homes to make room to plant trees.
Carbon sequestration technology could, in theory, absorb pollution, but it has not been shown to work on a large scale. Even if he did, he would do nothing to combat it other toxic impacts from the extraction source, so it is not a substitute for quick removal of fossil fuels.
There is another reason not to celebrate the company’s announcement: Shell also said that as its oil production declines, workers will suffer. Earlier, he said his switch to low-carbon energy would include 10% dismissal of its workforce. However, he did not, of course, announce any pay cuts for his directors to make up for the loss of oil revenues.
Shell’s claim that it has reached the top of oil is further evidence that the market is moving away from fossil fuels. But it also illustrates why we cannot make the transition to market forces. We need to reducing fossil fuel production much faster than the Shell plan allows and to put an immediate end to all new oil and gas infrastructure. We also need to make sure workers fired with fossil fuels have good jobs that go on and that renewable energy is not built with abusive work practices or those who disrupts fragile ecosystems. Judging by Shell’s follow record on both fronts, we I can’t rely on him to do the right thing. So while one of the largest oil companies in the world that recognizes the end of oil is a good thing, it still shows the need for governments to take a much more active role in making sure we get to the end of that road. a fair and correct way. .