Oil supermajor Shell plans to announce by the end of the year a significant restructuring to reflect its net-zero emissions goal for 2050 and to align itself with a green recovery from the pandemic, a Shell source told Reuters on Tuesday.
Shell's chief executive Ben van Beurden has told employees in an internal website video that there would be restructuring and job cuts, sources who saw the video told Reuters.
Shell's official website has posted a video message from van Beurden, who says that "[S]ociety must remain focused on the longer-term challenge of climate change. Because it hasn't gone away. It still needs urgent action. Shell has a big part to play."
"Our current business plans will not get us to where we need to be, and we will have to change those plans over time. And, it won't be easy, and of course there will be obstacles to overcome, but like many others, I believe that society now has a unique opportunity to accelerate towards a cleaner energy future," the top executive said in the message.
Shell announced earlier this year its ambition to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 at the latest, joining other majors such as BP and Eni in unveiling plans to curb carbon emissions.
"Society's expectations have shifted quickly in the debate around climate change. Shell now needs to go further with our own ambitions, which is why we aim to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner. Society, and our customers, expect nothing less," van Beurden said in April.
In recent months, Shell, BP, and Eni have been vocal about becoming net-zero energy businesses and reducing emissions and have announced steps to accelerate investments into low-carbon energy sources.
BP's chief executive Bernard Looney talks about "build back better" after the pandemic, with the UK-based supermajor expected to elaborate on its net-zero emissions plan in September this year.
Italy's Eni, for its part, announced earlier this month a "new business structure to be a leader in the energy transition," creating an Energy Evolution division in the company to accelerate its plans to significantly boost renewable power generation and biofuels production.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
The notion of zero emissions is an illusion based on illusions, namely a post-oil era, peak oil demand, imminent global energy transition and thinking that renewables can replace oil and gas to become their core business.
Oil majors may be using the notion of zero emissions to justify the drastic dividend cuts and the thousands of redundancies they are implementing currently.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London