Royal Dutch Shell, one of the top oil companies, said this week that it could confirm that it has reached the peak of oil production in 2019. As inland, it believes it will never produce so much oil again.
Shell also said it believes its carbon emissions have peaked in 2018. Shell revealed both in a press release on Thursday, intended to convince readers that Shell is doing everything it can to not contribute more to climate change. .
From Shell’s release, my emphasis:
- will continue with short-term targets that will reduce carbon emissions as we move towards our 2050 target of over 16,500 employees. This includes a new set of targets for reducing our net carbon intensity: 6-8% by 2023, 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035 and 100% by 2050, using a baseline for 2016;
- expects its total carbon emissions to peak in 2018 at 1.7 gigatonnes per year;
- confirms that its total oil production peaked in 2019;
- will seek access to another 25 million tonnes per year of carbon, capture and storage (CCS) capacity by 2035. Currently, three key CCS projects including Shell, Quest in Canada (in operation), Northern Lights in Norway (sanctioned) and Porthos in the Netherlands (planned) will total about 4.5 million tonnes of capacity;
- aims to use nature-based solutions (NBS), in line with the philosophy of avoiding, reducing and only then reducing, to offset the emissions of about 120 million tonnes per year by 2030, the ones we use being the highest independently verified quality;
[…]
A gradual reduction in oil production of about 1-2% each year, including divestments and natural decline.
This was enough to not satisfy some environmentalists, according to The New York Times, although this is to be expected; until we get to the other side of climate change, some things will never be enough. However, it’s kind of crazy how fast the oil companies moved.
Greenpeace UK said in a statement that without specific commitments to reduce production, Shell’s strategy could not be successful or “taken seriously”. Greenpeace also described Shell’s plans to offset emissions by establishing and protecting forests and wetlands as “delusional”.
[Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement of the Church of England Pensions Board] said that increasingly detailed plans to reduce emissions from European oil companies were a major step forward three years ago, when such talks were barely under way.
“In that space of time, things moved very significantly,” he said.
Let us not be too lauded; this is also a business decision, and large multinational corporations are not betting the future of their company on doing the right thing. But still, like someone who grew up with the old Big Oil: Strange, man.