Putting Big Oil's green spending in context
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An International Energy Agency report puts some context around how much the world's largest oil companies are investing in clean energy.
The big picture: The chart above shows the combined investments of a collection of roughly 20 giants, including Shell, Exxon and BP, but also state-controlled companies like Saudi Aramco and China National Petroleum Corp.
- The data, part of a much wider IEA report last week, shows that investments are growing but still remain a small share of the companies' total capital spending. (H/t to Bloomberg for flagging this section.)
Why it matters: There's growing investor, activist and legal pressure on oil giants to act more aggressively on climate change and diversify more quickly.
- The trend was starkly apparent on a single day in late May, when activist investors thwarted Exxon management to install several new board members and a Dutch court ordered Shell to cut emissions faster.
The intrigue: While the oil industry's overall capital spending outside core fossil fuel lines remains a small share, the European majors are increasing it more quickly.
- The IEA report notes that BP plans to increase annual clean energy investment to $3-$4 billion by 2025, while Shell is "is targeting a 25% share of investment on clean energy capital expenditure by 2025."
