The CEO of the American oil company ExxonMobil Darren Woods criticized the energy policy of the European Union. According to him, it has gone too far and punitive measures against fossil fuels in Europe are now forcing the big energy companies to reconsider their plans and possibly invest elsewhere. Woods said this at the annual CERAWeek conference, which is taking place these days in Houston.
Woods pointed out that after years of being discouraged from investing in oil and gas, the EU had no alternative but to start burning coal to keep the lights on when Russian gas stopped flowing to the continent. By continuing to punish the industry with measures that harm it, such as the windfall tax, it will only make matters worse.
“What we’ve seen in Europe should be a wake-up call,” Woods said. According to him, Exxon reassessed its investment strategy in Europe and decided to hold back. In the meantime, it is pursuing new projects in the United States, where the new IRA Inflation Act offers incentives to companies rather than punitive measures.
Green dreams are replaced by coal reality. It burns more than before covid
Money
Global coal-fired power capacity increased by nearly one percent to 2,100 gigawatts (GW) last year. The increase in demand for electricity after the recovery from the covid-19 disease pandemic contributed to this, according to a report published by the US environmental group Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
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Whip in Europe, sugar in the US
Woods is not the only one to point out the differences in the approach of governments in the EU and the US. The metaphor “American sugar and European whip” appears repeatedly at CERAWeek. American oil company executives are now showing interest in taking on new projects, and it’s not just because of the support provided by the IRA Act. Your share of it probably they also have record profits and 128 billion dollars (2.9 trillion crowns), which energy companies have already paid out to shareholders over the last year. CERAWeek is the largest gathering of energy industry representatives in the world.
Houston is also feeling a shift in the climate debate. The buzzword for company directors when describing the transformation of the energy sector is now “balance”, because in addition to sustainability, the words “availability” and “security” have also become among the main topics. The opinion that it will be difficult to end fossil fuels is also strengthened by the recent change of attitude of the British companies BP and Shell, which have decided to increase investments in oil and natural gas.
Despite all the criticism leveled at ExxonMobil, including from its own shareholders, Woods insists that his decision to stay out of oil and gas was the right one. And investors seem to agree, Bloomberg reported. Exxon’s shares have risen by more than 130 percent since the pandemic, which is almost double the growth of the shares of its closest competitor, Chevron.
Lubomír Lízal: Praise of coal. Emissions go aside, the main thing is energy security
Opinions
Gazprom stopped gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. A closed Russian gas tap next winter is the worst case scenario for us. Paradoxically, in recent times – due to climate policy – we have economically systematically motivated urban households to switch to gas. Of course, by this I do not mean boiler subsidies for family houses, but the situation in the central heat supply (CZT).
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Bottom Line. Oil giant Shell has its highest profits in 115 years
News from companies
Oil and gas giant Shell reported record annual profits after energy prices rose last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company reported an adjusted profit of $39.9 billion (about 862 billion crowns) for 2022, the most in its 115-year history, the BBC reports.
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Jaroslav Míl: Seven points that will save the Czech energy industry
Opinions
Jaroslav Míl, one of the most well-founded energy experts and the former head of ČEZ, describes for newstream.cz in seven points his view on the direction and steps the Czech energy industry should take in order to survive the current challenges. It recommends what should happen so that the Czech Republic has a safe system and reasonably expensive electricity and gas.
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