Shell Moves To Cut GHGs, Sells Permian Fields To Conoco, Which Will Pump Oil & Gas From Them

[hatrack]

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For Shell, the motivation for the sale was to meet the company’s goals of shrinking its carbon dioxide emissions and increasing its share of renewable energy sources, objectives made legally binding by a Dutch court this summer. The company has faced pressure to reduce its oil and gas production and produce more clean energy in response to concerns from investors and the public about climate change.

But despite Shell’s climate goals, energy experts said the deal, which moves more than 175,000 barrels per day in production from one major company to another, isn’t a signal that the industry is focusing more on protecting the environment. “You’re not reducing emissions, you’re just transferring who produces them,” said Arvind Ravikumar, who leads the University of Texas at Austin’s Sustainable Energy Transitions Lab.

“This is not a symbol of global movement to take climate action,” said Kenneth B. Medlock III, senior director at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University. “This is a symbol of what two different entities viewed was in their own commercial best interest.” Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, said the deal highlighted “that the Permian Basin has gained a notorious reputation — many Wall Street people have said it has a black eye for failing to address methane emissions and flaring.”

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For the Texas fossil fuel industry, the deal was welcome news. “[Shell’s] assets transferring to a company that wants to be in the oil and gas business in the state of Texas and that’s headquartered in Texas — it’s hard from my standpoint to find a negative on balance from the announcement of this transaction,” said Karr Ingham, economist for the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.

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https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/22/shell-permian-basin-texas/

[Mickju]

1. This is so fucked up.