The climate strategies of the oil industry

Abstract

Oil companies want to sell as much oil and gas as possible at the highest possible price. Still, a quick glance at the web pages of Shell, ExxonMobil and Statoil (as well as other US and Europeanbased oil companies) reveals significant differences in their perceptions of climate change. What are the strategies adopted by ExxonMobil, the Shell Group and Statoil on the climate issue? Do they merely use different rhetoric to please their clients, consumers and employees, or is the observed difference of a deeper nature? And to what extent have their climate strategies undergone changes during the last decade? In this chapter, these companies’ strategies are assessed and compared with a main focus on a key set of four indicators: (1) the companies’ acknowledgement of the prospective problem of a human-induced climate change; (2) their position with regard to the Kyoto Protocol; (3) self-imposed targets and measures to reduce GHG emissions from their own operations; and (4) the long-term implications of their strategy choice, analysed in terms of the degree of reorientation in their core business areas. With regard to the last indicator, an attempt is made to make qualified judgements regarding the extent to which the strategies of the companies to climate change have implied, and will continue to imply, significant changes in their investment decisions. The climate strategies of ExxonMobil, the Shell Group and Statoil are assessed in relative terms according to a continuum from ‘reactive’ to ‘proactive’ strategies. To the extent that companies acknowledge the climate problem, support the Kyoto Protocol, adopt targets and measures to reduce emissions from 2543Chap3 16/7/03 9:58 am Page 43