Fossil fuel cos to spend more on new oil fields development

The world’s biggest oil and gas companies, including Shell, Exxon and Gazprom, are projected to spend €857 billion on new oil and gas fields by 2030.

This could grow to a staggering €1.4 trillion by 2040, says new research from Global Witness and Oil Change International. All 20 of the companies investigated by two NGOs claim to support the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming below the critical 1.5C threshold.

The new analysis comes just a week after UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres called it “moral and economic madness” to invest in new oil and gas.

According to the most recent IPCC report, new oil and gas projects would push the world well over safe limits for global warming. World-leading climate scientists warned that we need to reduce fossil fuel use to keep emissions targets in sight.

Since the UN report was released on 4 April, seven new oil and gas projects have already been approved. And this new research from Global Witness shows that the biggest fossil fuel companies in the world are still set to spend billions on new projects in the next decade.

Russian state company Gazprom topped the list for gas with a predicted spend of €373 billion according to the data from independent energy research firm, Rystad Energy. Qatar Energy came in second with €52 billion followed by Total Energies at €29 billion. Shell placed fourth with a projected spend of €26 billion.

For oil extraction, American firms topped the list with Exxon the highest (€54 billion). Chevron (€52 billion) and Conoco Phillips (€51 billion) made up the rest of the top three.

Source: https://www.euronews.com/