Climate Change Concerns Makes Shell Sell Off it’s Permian Basin Oil and Gas Assets
With the pressure on oil and gas companies to be more climate friendly, Shell decided to sell off it's oil and gas business in the Permian Basin to reduce its fossil fuel reliance.
According to the Texas Tribune, Monday (September 20, 2021), Royal Dutch Shell sold off its oil and gas business to ConocoPhillips for $9.5 billion cash increasing the investment Houston based ConocoPhillips has in the Permian Basin.
This is a huge redirect from Shell which has been producing over 175,000 barrels of oil per day here.
The sell off is in response to investors and the public being concerned about the company shifting its focus to clean energy due to climate change and not relying so much on fossil fuels.
Shell and other major energy companies have come under fire for their role in climate change and the messages they have been putting out about how fossil fuels are contributing to it.
Last week, the U.S. House Oversight Committee looked into the oil and gas industry's "long running, industry-wide campaign to spread disinformation about the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming.”
The committee called on high ranking officials from the major oil and gas companies like Shell, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil to testify to Congress next month and I assume that is what caused the sell off from Shell.
More companies like Shell need to invest in other forms of energy besides fossil fuels.
Most automobile companies are shifting their manufacturing of new vehicles to electric, which will be the wave of the future, and if the major oil and gas companies do not invest something in green energy, they will probably find themselves as one of the "brands that no longer exist."
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