LONDON (Reuters) – Europe’s top oil and gas companies have diverted a bigger share of their cash to green energy tasks considering that the coronavirus break out in a bet the international health crisis will leave a long-term dent in nonrenewable fuel source need, according to a Reuters review of business statements and interviews with executives.
SUBMIT PICTURE: A mix of file pictures shows the logos of 5 of the biggest publicly traded oil companies; BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Overall. REUTERS/Jim Tanner
The strategies of companies like BP ( BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L) and Overall ( TOTF.PA) are in action with the European Union’s efforts to shift to a lower-carbon economy and far from a century-old dependence on oil, and reflect the region’s expanding rift with the United States where both the government and the top drillers are mostly remaining devoted to oil and gas.
” We are all living differently and there is a genuine possibility that some of this will stick,” BP President Bernard Looney informed Reuters in a recent interview, citing big decreases in air and road travel, and a boost in telecommuting.
Global oil majors have all cut capital costs dramatically as around the world stay-at-home orders triggered by the coronavirus break out slammed fuel demand and sent out oil costs to tape lows.
However Europe’s top 5 manufacturers – BP, Shell, Total, Eni ( ENI.MI), and Equinor ( EQNR.OL) – are all focusing their financial investment cuts mainly on oil and gas activities, and giving their renewables and low carbon companies a relative boost, according to Reuters computations.
( GRAPHIC: European oil majors’ 2020 spending tilts green – here)
Business executives and financiers say they anticipate nonrenewable fuel source need to peak earlier than formerly thought. At the very same time, the EU is expected to focus financial stimulus on green energy infrastructure in the wake of the crisis to additional align it with the ambitions of the Paris arrangement to fight climate modification, making investments in the sector more attractive.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen just recently pledged to make environment policies the bloc’s “motor for the recovery.”
BP intends to keep its formerly prepared $500 million in spending on low-carbon initiatives thi