Behind the push: The group making the announcement is the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative, a group launched in 2014 of about 10 global oil and gas companies, including Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned company, BP and Royal Dutch Shell. No U.S.-based companies are in the group.
Gritty details: According to a press release by the group, the three investments the group made are in...
- A U.S.-based company called Solidia Technologies that has a patented technology that produces cement in a way that generates fewer emissions.
- Achates Power, another U.S.-based firm that is developing more efficient vehicle engines. According to a company press release, the group has invested about $30 million into the firm.
- An unnamed project that aims to design a natural-gas power plant equipped with technology that captures and stores carbon instead of emitting it.
Yes, but: The investment announcements, according to materials viewed by Axios Thursday night, did not include specific dollar amounts. Last November, the group launched a "billion-dollar investment vehicle," indicating these individual investments are well below that number, which is itself not a big number in the grand scheme of oil-industry investments.
Be smart: Many of the lower-carbon investments made by oil and gas companies are real, let's be clear, but they're also a drop in the bucket compared to the investments made in their traditional fossil-fuel products.
For the record:
Requests for additional information and comment from oil companies involved and leading the effort, including BP and Italy-based Eni, were not returned Thursday.
