Royal Dutch Shell, one of the major oil companies, said this week that it could confirm it had reached peak oil production in 2019. As in, it thinks it will never produce that much oil again.
Shell also said it thinks its CO2 emissions peaked in 2018. Shell announced both issues in a press release on Thursday, intended to convince readers that Shell is doing what it can to stop contributing to climate change.
From Shell release, emphasis mine:
- will continue to set short-term targets that will reduce CO2 emissions as we progress towards our 2050 target, coupled with the compensation of more than 16,500 employees. This includes a new set of targets to reduce our net carbon intensity: 6-8% by 2023, 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035 and 100% by 2050, assuming a 2016 baseline;
- 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 aim to have access to an additional 25 million tonnes per year of carbon, capture and storage (CCS) capacity by 2035. Currently there are three major CCS projects of which Shell is part, Quest in Canada (in operation), Northern Lights in Norway (sanctioned) and Porthos in the Netherlands (planned) will have a total capacity of approximately 4.5 million tonnes;
- aims to use nature-based solutions (NBS), in line with the philosophy of avoid, reduce and only then reduce, to offset the emissions of approximately 120 million tons per year by 2030, with the solutions we use of the highest independent be verified quality;
[…]
An expected gradual decline in oil production of approximately 1-2% per year, including divestments and natural declines.
All this was enough not to satisfy some environmentalists, according to The New York Timesalthough that is to be expected; until we get to the other side of climate change, some things will never be enough. Still, it is a bit strange how quickly the oil companies have moved.
Greenpeace UK said in a statement that without specific commitments on production cuts, Shell’s strategy could not succeed or be taken ‘seriously’. Greenpeace also described Shell’s plans to offset emissions by creating and protecting forests and wetlands as ‘delusional’.
[Adam Matthews, director of ethics and engagement of the Church of England Pensions Board] said European oil companies’ increasingly detailed emission reduction plans were a big step forward from three years ago, when such discussions had only just begun.
“Things have changed a lot during that time,” he said.
Let us not get too carried away with praise; this is also a business decision, and large multinational corporations are not betting that their company’s future will do the right thing. But still, as someone who grew up on the old Big Oil: weird, man.