Big Oil's climate targets
Updates paragraph 2 to reflect Shell no longer being bound by Dutch court to cut Scope 3 emissions; updates BP's abandonment of goal to cut oil and gas production in chart; updates emissions graphics for oil majors to reflect 2023 data.
Nov 12 (Reuters) -The world's biggest oil and gas companies have set varying targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their operations and the combustion of the products they sell.
On Tuesday, Shell won an appeal against a landmark 2021 ruling that required it to cut its absolute carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, including those caused by the use of its products.
Scientists say the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by around 43% by 2030 from 2019 levels to stand any chance of meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
Direct comparisons of the oil companies' climate plans are difficult as they emphasise different approaches to intensity-based targets and how to include greenhouse gases from the combustion of their fuels - known as Scope 3 emissions.
Intensity-based targets measure the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as methane and carbon dioxide, per unit of energy or barrel of oil and gas produced.
That means absolute emissions can rise even if the headline intensity metric falls - for example with the addition of renewables or biofuels to the product mix.
Reducing emissions will require a well-functioning market for carbon, the scaling up of carbon capture and storage technology, and the development of competitive uses of hydrogen, many of the companies have said.
The table below shows details by company (in alphabetical order).
Targets | 2030 Scope 1+2 reduction | Absolute 2030 reduction incl. Scope 3 | Intensity-based 2030 reduction incl. Scope 3 | 2050 target | Details |
BP | 50% vs 2019 | 20%-30% vs 2019 (excludes fuel sold by BP but derived from oil produced by others) | 15%-20% vs 2019 (includes all fuel sold by BP even if derived from oil produced by others) | net zero company | Has abandoned goal to cut oil and gas output by 25% by 2030 vs 2019 |
Chevron | 35% oil and gas upstream intensity to 24 kg CO2e/boe by 2028 vs 2016 | no | 5% by 2028 vs 2016 | net zero Scope 1 and 2 aspiration (upstream) | Guides more than 3% annual growth of oil and gas output by 2027 |
ConocoPhillips | 40%-50% vs 2016 | no | no | Net zero Scope 1 and 2 | Does not set any Scope 3 targets |
Eni | net zero | 35% vs 2018 (includes fuel sold by Eni produced by others) | 15% vs 2018 (includes fuel sold by Eni produced by others) | net zero company | Expects hydrocarbon production to grow 3%-4%/yr between 2022 and 2026 and then stay flat until 2030, with gas accounting for 60% of output by then |
Equinor | 50% vs 2015 (operated assets) | no | 20% vs 2019 | net zero company | Sees 2030 oil and gas output on par with 2022 when it was around 2 mln boed. Expects oil output to grow to 2026, then decline. |
Exxon | 20% corporate-wide emissions (or 23 mln t) vs 2016; 30% reduction in upstream business (or 15 mln t) | no | no | net zero Scope 1 and 2 of operated assets | Does not set any Scope 3 targets Add 500,000 boed output by 2027 to reach 4.2 mln boed |
Repsol | 55% vs 2016 by 2025 | 30% vs 2016 (excludes fuel sold by Repsol but derived from oil produced by others) | 28% vs 2016 (excludes fuel sold by Repsol but derived from oil produced by others) | net zero company | Under nations' currently announced climate pledges, Repsol expects to produce 350,000-400,000 boed in 2050 Repsol expects oil refining to fall 80%-90% by 2050 |
Shell | 50% vs 2016 | Ambition to reduce customer emissions from use of oil products by 15% to 20% vs 2021 | 15% to 20% vs 2016 (includes all fuel sold by Shell) | Net zero company | Has ruled out setting absolute emissions cuts targets for 2030 |
TotalEnergies | 40% vs 2015 (operated assets) | <400 mln t CO2e vs 389 mln t CO2e in 2022; 40% vs 2015 for oil products (excludes gas) | 25% vs 2015 | net zero company ("together with society") | expects to produce 1 mln barrels per day of oil and gas by 2050, around a quarter of 2030 output |
(boed=barrels of oil equivalent per day)
NOTES:
1) Scope 1 refers to emissions from a company's direct operations, such as a diesel generator on an offshore platform.
2) Scope 2 emissions include those from the power a company uses for its operations, and from its fleet of vehicles.
3) Scope 3 includes emissions from the combustion of the products a company sells, such as gasoline or jet fuel. Typically these account for over 90% of emissions at an integrated oil and gas firm.
Big Oil's 2023 emissions https://reut.rs/40JyrAV
Big Oil's 2023 greenhouse gas emissions https://www.reuters.com/graphics/OIL-EMISSIONS/egpbjodojpq/chart.png
Shell's emissions https://graphics.reuters.com/SHELL-EMISSIONS/gkplwlezbvb/chart.png
BP's emissions https://graphics.reuters.com/BP-EMISSIONS/egpbyodalvq/chart.png
TotalEnergies' emissions TotalEnergies' emissions https://graphics.reuters.com/TOTALENERGIES-EMISSIONS/zjpqjnyyrvx/chart.png
Written and compiled by America Hernandez; editing by Barbara Lewis and Tomasz Janowski
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