Oil and Industry Archives

A group of the world's top oil companies including Saudi Aramco, China's CNPC and ExxonMobil have for the first time set targets to cut their combined greenhouse gas emissions as a proportion of production, as pressure on the sector's climate stance grows.

Volkswagen is set to remove production lines for all internal combustion engine vehicles from one of its key factories this year, replacing them with electric vehicle production capacity. EURACTIV's media partner, edie.net, reports.

Oil companies are being forced to cut spending due to a fall in global oil prices, threatening funds earmarked to dismantle dated off-shore rigs, despite environmental risks.

US-based oil and gas majors are lagging well behind their European counterparts when it comes to plans for cutting emissions to comply with the Paris climate deal, according to analysis released Wednesday (24 June).

The European oil refining industry association, whose members includes Shell, BP, ExxonMobil and Total, outlined on Monday (15 June) a €650 billion plan to completely decarbonise transport fuels by 2050.

Business in oil, gas and coal is becoming increasingly unprofitable as global fossil reserves could lose around two-thirds of their value in the next 50 years, plummeting from around $39 trillion to $14 trillion, according to a study published on Thursday (4 May) by British think tank Carbon Tracker. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Oil and gas companies throughout the supply chain need to do much more to bring down methane emissions immediately. And they can, writes Maarten Wetselaar.

While fossil fuel projects are in theory excluded from EU funding, natural gas will continue to play a key role in replacing coal while helping to build a hydrogen infrastructure at least cost, EU climate chief Frans Timmermans said on Thursday (28 May).

A group of eight EU countries from the Balkans and the east have joined forces to defend the “role of natural gas in a climate-neutral Europe”.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted maintenance at oil and gas projects and refineries from Russia’s Far East to the coast of Canada, storing up problems for an industry already reeling from slumping prices, analysts say.

The April oil market crash will test the determination of majors like Shell and BP, which have recently announced goals to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The Netherlands want to use their “unique starting position” in the gas value chain to become world leaders in the production and use of clean hydrogen, saying the fuel “can become a globally traded commodity”.

More than 80% of the highest-emitting listed companies are failing to deliver emissions reductions aligned to the Paris Agreement's 2C global warming limit, with many of them also failing to account for climate mitigation and risk strategies. EURACTIV's media partner, edie.net, reports.

Although the oil price war was triggered by the Russia-Saudi fall-out, US shale will be the first casualty, writes Robin Mills. In the process, the US will learn that producing a lot of oil at high prices is not the “energy dominance” it has made a centrepiece of foreign policy, he argues.

Saudi Arabia has stepped up efforts to squeeze Russia’s Urals oil grade out of its main markets by offering its own cheap barrels instead after their long-standing deal to support global oil prices fell apart, seven oil sources said.

US shale producers are seeking sharp service costs cuts to deal with plummeting prices and shrinking demand, according to executives and a letter sent to top providers, driving home the oil industry’s desperate efforts to cope with a market dive.

This week’s oil price rout had become inevitable and cutting output has ceased to make sense because it is unclear how deep the impact of the coronavirus on demand will be, Russia’s deputy energy minister said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday (11 March).

Russia’s Energy Ministry will meet with the country’s oil companies on Wednesday (11 March) to discuss future cooperation with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, among other issues, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters.

The country’s vast forests and marshes should play an important role in decarbonisation efforts, according to a 2035 outlook from Russian energy company Lukoil.

LUKOIL Vice-President for Strategic Development Leonid Fedun presented the 2035 Energy Outlook with a focus on oil markets and climate issues and initiate a discussion on the future of energy markets and possible ways of tackling global challenges. The Outlook analyses …

BP set one of the oil sector’s most ambitious targets for curbing carbon emissions on Wednesday (12 February) as new chief executive Bernard Looney began the biggest revamp in the company’s 111-year history.

A sudden break on oil drilling caused by last-minute climate action from regulators could halve the value of new projects being developed today, according to fresh analysis published on Friday (31 January).

Tim Eggar, chairman of the UK's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), sent shockwaves through the industry on Wednesday (15 January) when he said growing public awareness about climate change was putting the sector's very survival at stake.

Kazakhstan and Belarus will discuss an oil supply deal before 20 January, Kazakhstan Energy Minister Nurlan Nogayev told reporters on Wednesday (15 January), without explaining the significance of that date.