The world’s biggest oil and gas companies including Shell, Exxon and Gazprom, are forecast to spend €857 billion on new oil and gas fields by 2030, with the potential to grow to a staggering €1.4 trillion by 2040, according to Global Witness and Oil Change International.
The research by the two NGOs, which covered 20 of the oil and gas companies indicated that the companies claimed to support the Paris Agreement Goal of keeping global warming below the critical 1.5 degree Celsius threshold.
An analysis of the spending allocation of each of the oil and gas companies showed that Russia’s state company Gazprom topped the list for gas with a predicted spend of €373 billion according to the data from independent energy research firm, Rystad Energy. Following Gazprom is Qatar Energy came in second with €52 billion, followed by TotalEnergies with €29 billion projected spend. Shell placed fourth with a projected spend of €26 billion.
In terms of oil extraction, American firms Exxon, Chevron and Conoco Phillips leading the pack, with Exxon being the highest (€54 billion), Chevron following with €52 billion and Conoco Philips contributing €51 billion.
“From the day the Paris Agreement was signed these companies have been of compliance,” said Lorne Stockman, research director at Oil Change International.
“In the subsequent six years, they have published their statements and honed their PR and lobbying while recklessly pursuing oil and gas production growth. It is past time governments cut them off. No more tax breaks or public finance for oil and gas. We’re beyond second chances.”
Lorne Stockman
Companies’ Investment in Fossil Fuels
Asked to comment on the findings of the research, Exxon noted that “its $15 billion (€13.8 billion) investments is in lower-emissions technologies”. The investments are expected to be in biofuels, hydrogen and carbon capture technology, and not necessarily renewable energy.
Chevron also outlined plans to reduce the “carbon intensity” of the oil and gas production and develop “profitable, lower carbon new energy businesses that leverage our strengths.”
Conoco Phillips said its plan for a “net-zero energy transition” addresses the carbon intensity of its products and features opportunities for the company to invest in carbon capture, hydrogen and offsets. The firm, however, rejects any targets that would reduce its production.
TotalEnergies indicated it is of the view that the data from Rystad Energy used for the report overestimates its future investments. The company expects to spend around €11.8 billion on “greenfield and exploration” between 2022 and 2026.
Juliana Gaertner, Global Witness Gas Campaigner said: “With the global reliance on fossil fuels underpinning so many of the world’s current crises, the UN Secretary-General is absolutely right; investing in more would be madness.
“In whatever way fossil fuel companies dress it up, they are throwing exorbitant sums towards prolonging the fossil fuel dependent world they have created. With the global reliance on fossil fuels underpinning so many of the world’s current crises, the UN Secretary-General is absolutely right; investing in more would be madness.”
Juliana Gaertner
Oil Companies Deliberately Prolonging Fossil fuel Dependent World
However, Gaertner added that this is exactly the intention of the fossil fuel industry: “Pull back the PR, tear away the greenwash, and unwrap the false promises- in whatever way fossil fuel companies dress it up, they are throwing exorbitant sums towards prolonging the fossil fuel dependent world they have created.”
This research comes a week after UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres called these increasing investments into new oil and gas fields as “moral and economic madness”.
According to the most recent IPCC report, new oil and gas projects would push the world well over safe limits for global warming. World-leading climate scientists warned that the world needs to reduce fossil fuel use to keep emissions targets in sight.
Since the UN report was released on April 4, 2022, seven new oil and gas projects have already been approved. For a confirmation, this research from Global Witness showed that the biggest fossil fuel companies in the world are still set to spend billions on new projects in the next decade.
READ ALSO: Successful Acquisition of Chirano to Push Asante’s Output to Around 400,000 oz
