Big Oil has spent 1% of green energy in 2018

LONDON (Reuters) – Major oil and gas companies have spent about 1% of their 2018 budgets on clean energy, but European giant investments have far outstripped their US and Asian rivals, according to a study.

Companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP have, in recent years, accelerated their spending on wind and solar energy and battery technologies, seeking to play a greater role in global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. fight against global warming.

In recent years, investors have increased pressure on the boards of directors of fossil fuel companies, including Exxon Mobil, the largest publicly traded oil company in the world, to reduce emissions, spend more on fossil fuels low-carbon energy and raise awareness of climate change.

But the transatlantic divide remains high, according to CDP, a climate-driven research provider that collaborates with large institutional investors with $ 87 trillion in assets.

"With less domestic pressure to diversify, US companies have not adopted renewable energy in the same way as their European counterparts," CDP said in a report.

Europe's leading oil companies account for around 70% of the sector's renewable capacity and almost all capacity under development, the CDP study said.

(For a chart on "low-carbon investments of oil companies", click on tmsnrt.rs/2PdABFA)

Shell is leading the way in future projects to spend $ 1-2 billion a year on clean energy technologies with a total budget of $ 25 billion to $ 30 billion. Equinor in Norway plans to spend 15-20% of its budget on renewables by 2030.

According to the study, Total has spent most of its budget on low-carbon energy, accounting for 4.3% of its budget since 2010.

Overall, however, the 24 largest publicly traded companies in the world spent 1.3% of its total $ 260 billion budget on low-carbon energy in 2018.

This still represents nearly double the 0.68% of investments made by the group between 2010 and 2017.

(For a chart on the capex 'oil majors', click on tmsnrt.rs/2Phem1A)

Investments accelerated following the 2015 Paris climate agreement signed by the US government, in which governments agreed to reduce net emissions by zero by the end of the year. century to limit global warming to a temperature below 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Since 2016, 148 transactions have been concluded for energy capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies.

Energy companies are increasingly turning to gas production, the least polluting fossil fuel, which they say will play a major role in reducing emissions by moving dirty coal and meeting the growing demand for electricity .

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), which brings together 13 of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, committed earlier this year to reduce emissions of a powerful greenhouse gas from fifth by 2025.

(For a chart on "low-carbon investments of oil companies", click on tmsnrt.rs/2PdABFA)

But critics say the industry is not enough.

"This 1% figure is insignificant compared to the amount of money that Big Oil spends on blocking climate initiatives and regulations and investing in fossil fuel projects that do not belong in a single industry." world well below 2 degrees Celsius, "said Jeanne Martin of the ShareAction campaign group. .

Last week, voters in the state of Washington rejected a poll initiative to create the first carbon tax in the United States after a campaign led by the oil industry supported that it would hurt the economy.

"Investors need to strengthen their commitment and ask fossil fuel companies to align their business models with the goals of the Paris Agreement," said Martin.