Shell says oil is coming out.
In a statement on Thursday, the fossil fuel giant said its “oil production peaked in 2019” and that we can now expect it to gradually decline by 1 or 2% per year. Shell also said that its total carbon emissions peaked in 2018 with 1.7 gigatonnes.
The statement is not a complete surprise. The oil market is in decline for years, and since the covid-19 pandemic started last year, fuel prices have gone from bad to catastrophically bad. Last fall, the International Energy Agency predicted a “treacherous” path ahead for the industry. And in September, the energy giant BP said the world may have already reached peak oil. Shell’s own CFO suggested in the announcement in May, when she told investors that the company went through “great destruction of demand that we don’t even know will come back”, and shortly thereafter, Shell wrote down $ 22 billion on its balance sheets. Even so, this is the first time that such a direct advertisement has been made.
With oil on the decline, Shell announced in September, which would achieve zero carbon pollution by 2050, but did not say much about the provisional targets. The energy company now says it will develop this plan by launching an “accelerated strategy” to eliminate emissions.
But in typical Shell style, the real plan to get there is very weak. It includes promises to rapidly increase investment in solar and hydrogen energy, but also to inject money into biofuels—What research shows that it can be so polluting like gas and diesel. She said she plans to produce biofuels and hydrogen in up to 10% of her portfolio by 2030. Even more insulting, the company also plans to dramatically increase its production of liquefied natural gas, adding 7 million tonnes of new capacity in the middle of this decade. And while the company has said it will invest up to $ 3 billion in renewable energy “in the short term,” it still spends tens of billions on oil and gas exploration each year.
G / O Media can receive a commission
Increasing dirty energy production will make it very difficult to reduce emissions, which is why Shell said last week which will boost the use of “nature based” forest offsets and carbon capture and storage. The company already does this to produce “Carbon neutral” natural gas. But carbon offsets are not just real climate solutions. Compensating for greenhouse gas pollution does not prevent emissions from occurring. In addition, compensation projects have also been a source of horrible environmental justice as they often result in people moving from their homes to make room for planting trees.
Carbon capture technology, in theory, would suck up pollution, but it has not been proven to work at scale. Even if that happened, I would do nothing to combat the other toxic impacts at the extraction source, then it is not a substitute for leaving quickly of fossil fuels.
There is another reason for not celebrating the company’s announcement: Shell has also made it clear that, as its oil production falls, workers will suffer. He said earlier that his transition to low carbon energy would include dispensing 10% of your workforce. Still, it is clear that it has not announced any cut in pay from its executives to make up for the loss of oil revenue.
Shell’s claim that it has reached peak oil is further evidence that the market is moving away from fossil fuels. But it also illustrates why we cannot leave the transition to market forces. We need cut fossil fuel production much faster than Shell’s plan allows, and to immediately put an end to all new oil and gas infrastructure. We also need to ensure workers discharged from fossil fuels have good jobs moving forward, and that renewable energy is not built with abusive work practices or those who disturb fragile ecosystems. Judging by Cartridges go along record on Both fronts, we I can’t trust him to do the right thing. So while one of the biggest oil companies in the world recognizes that the end of oil is a good thing, it still points to the need for governments to take a much more active role in ensuring that we get to the end of this road in a fair and just manner.