‘Stranded Assets’ Risk Rising With Climate Action and $40 Oil

By Laura Hurst | Bloomberg:

September 18, 2020 at 7:55 a.m. GMT+1

What had seemed like an abstract debate about leaving oil, gas and coal in the ground to fight climate change has suddenly become real. Environmental activists have long fought for lower fossil-fuel production. Now, with the pandemic crippling economies and reducing energy use and prices, drillers and miners are coming to grips with projects that are no longer viable. Some companies are even abandoning investments, leaving deposits worth billions of dollars in the ground to languish as so-called “stranded assets.” While environmentalists applaud, fund managers, banks and regulators worry that project financing could sour and collateral become worthless. read more

Shell Offshore files plans to return to Alaska’s North Slope

Author: Elwood Brehmer: Alaska Journal of Commerce

A supermajor oil company is looking to advance its position on Alaska’s North Slope.

Shell Offshore Inc. has applied to form the West Harrison Bay Unit in state waters just offshore from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska with plans to drill the area in search of oil in the coming years, according to documents submitted to the state Division of Oil and Gas.

If the Dutch oil industry giant can secure a partner to share in the costs and risks of remote offshore North Slope exploration, it expects to drill exploration wells in the West Harrison Bay Unit with at least one sidetrack each in 2023 and 2024, Shell’s initial unit plan of exploration states. read more

Countries Need to Invest $55 Trillion to Reach Emissions Target

By Rajesh Kumar Singh 16 September 2020, 15:39 BST: Updated on 17 September 2020, 07:17 BST

Global economies will need to invest as much as $55 trillion through the middle of the century to meet an emissions goal and contain warming of the planet, according to a report by a group of executives from energy-intensive companies including ArcelorMittal SA, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

Reaching net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050 will require large-scale electrification of industries, buildings and transport, as well as the use of hydrogen and biofuels in areas that can’t be electrified, according to the Energy Transitions Commission. Using less energy to produce more and recycling material will aid the efforts. Building renewable power plants will take up a bulk of the estimated investment. read more

Big Oil’s green makeover

Every so often, corporations confront questions of life or death.

IBM did it in the 1990s, when its hulking mainframe computers faced the challenge of next generation PCs. A new chief executive successfully shifted IBM to services and software. Netflix did it — three times. It first played the role of disrupter, offering movie DVDs by mail and then mastering the business of online streaming. Then it changed again, generating its own content.

Now, BP, one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, is aiming to ride the waves of disruption instead of being crushed under them. read more

Extinction Rebellion activists arrested after Shell’s London HQ vandalised

Several Extinction Rebellion activists have been arrested after the Shell Centre in central London was vandalised.

Green graffiti reading “stop ecocide” was sprayed on the outside of the building. One arrestee was seen with green hands.

Earlier, around 100 protesters had gathered in Jubilee Gardens opposite Shell’s London headquarters to demonstrate against the oil and gas company.

Some demonstrators also dropped a banner from Westminster Bridge which read “Shell = Death”. read more

Why The Oil Industry’s $400 Billion Bet On Plastics Could Backfire

Scott Carpenter: Senior Contributor: Energy Sept 5, 2020Key takeaways:

• Oil companies plan to invest $400 billion into new petrochemical plants, betting that demand for plastic will keep growing.
• Authors of a new report say the industry and other forecasters fail to consider that large majorities favor legislation to curb plastic use and waste and that governments are acting.
• Plastics impose a cost of $1000 per tonne — through CO2 emissions, air pollution, and collection costs. Calls to shift those costs onto producers through taxes are growing.
• Outside experts said the long-term outlook for plastics demand remains uncertain and will depend on consumer preferences and government actions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating green growth around the world have eviscerated many of the oil industry’s dogmas: that renewables would suffer from high costs, that governments would slow-walk environmental commitments, that investors would continue to reward long-term bets on oil with generous market values.

But one nugget of wisdom has survived everything the market has thrown at it, and now oil companies like ExxonMobil and Shell are wagering billions on it: that the world’s demand for plastics is still growing, with no end in sight. read more

The Guardian: ‘War on plastic’ could strand oil industry’s £300bn investment

Major oil firms plan to grow plastic supply to counter impact of shift against fossil fuels

Jillian Ambrose: Fri 4 Sep 2020 06.00 BST

The war on plastic waste could scupper the oil industry’s multi-billion dollar bet that the world will continue to need more fossil fuels to help make the petrochemicals used in plastics, according to a new report.

Major oil companies, including Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell, plan to spend about $400bn (£300bn) to help grow the supply of virgin plastics by a quarter over the next five years, to compensate for the impact of electric vehicles and clean energy technologies on demand for fossil fuels. read more

Shell Brent legs: Decom decision ‘postponed’ for giant structures

A decision on whether Shell will be allowed to keep the giant legs of the Brent field in the North Sea forever has been “postponed”.

Allister Thomas: 4 Sept 2020

The Ospar Commission, the intergovernmental body to protect Europe’s marine environment, confirmed the UK Government has still not made a decision on the controversial plans, 11 months on since the last formal meeting on them.

The legs of the Shell Brent Bravo, Charlie and Delta, made of steel and concrete, each weigh around 300,000 tonnes and are taller than the Eiffel Tower. read more

An update on climate change litigation – no signs of cooling

Katharina Theil considers progress on legal moves around the world to bring companies to account for their contribution to climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed many aspects of our daily lives. However, one issue that remains firmly on the agenda is the urgent need for action to mitigate the worst consequences of climate change.

As the UK emerges from lockdown, the UK Committee on Climate Change has urged the Government to tackle the climate emergency in its attempt to revive the economy and has called for ‘a green, resilient COVID-19 recovery’. read more

Two Climate Protesters Arrested in London as Demonstrations Resume

By Reuters: Aug. 28, 2020, 7:54 a.m. ET

LONDON — Police arrested two climate activists on Friday as the resumption of Extinction Rebellion’s protests following a coronavirus-forced hiatus saw the pair target oil firm Shell’s main London office.

They had painted the word “lies” in large green letters on the glass front doors of the building as other protesters held up a banner.

“Officers attended and two women aged 33 and 47 were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. Both remain in custody,” a police spokesman said. read more

Extinction Rebellion protest outside London HQ of oil giant Shell

last updated: 28/08/2020

At least one protester was arrested after demonstrators representing climate advocacy group, Extinction Rebellion, gathered outside Shell Centre, the London headquarters of the major oil firm, and spray-painted the word “LIES” on the building entrance.

The activist group had planned the demonstration for early Friday but minutes into the protest the graffiti painter, a young woman wearing a white painter’s uniform with the XR logo on the back, was arrested by police. read more

POSTED BY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR ON AUGUST 26, 2020 

Dow Chemical and Shell Oil were hit with a lawsuit Wednesday by South Pasadena accusing the companies of contaminating the city’s water supply with a toxic chemical found in pesticides the companies once made.

The suit filed in Los Angeles federal court alleges the companies knew or should have known that the chemical, known as 1,2,3-trichloropropane, or TCP, is toxic and renders drinking water unsafe. The companies manufactured and marketed agricultural pesticides containing the chemical for years — and it was used on land in the vicinity of South Pasadena’s wells. read more

North Sea – WEBWIRE – Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Today Greenpeace activists from Germany have launched a protest in the North Sea to call out Shell’s plans to abandon an estimated 11,000 tonnes of oil in the sea.[1] The Greenpeace ship Esperanza approached the 500m exclusion zone of Shell’s platforms in the Brent oil field, off the Shetland Islands, with protestors on board waving banners calling on Shell to clean up its mess. Today’s protest also highlights how Shell is failing to take responsibility for its harmful impact on the environment. read more

Big Oil Asset Write-Downs Are Not The End Of The Oil Age

Tilak Doshi: Contributor Energy: Aug 23, 2020

Climate change activists have long lobbied for divestment from fossil fuel-producing companies. They have largely failed in this quest. This year, the steep falls in the value of the large oil and gas companies, however, occurred with a rapidity that astonished market watchers. Within weeks, the coronavirus pandemic and the oil market-share battle between Saudi Arabia and Russia launched after the collapse of the OPEC+ talks in early March led to unprecedented falls in Big Oil equity. read more