ExxonMobil investor Engine No.1 says that oil firms should have switched to more transition-focused businesses before the 2008 financial crisis
Oil companies missed transition pivot
Shell and activist investor both agree that mistakes were made in the ’00s
“We gave up wind 15 years ago, which was a strategic mistake,” Shell CEO Ben van Beurden admitted in an October Ted event otherwise overshadowed by the executive being on the end of a withering personal attack by a climate campaigner. And Chris James, founder of investor Engine No.1, agrees that oil firms such as Shell should have switched to more transition-focused businesses before the 2008 financial crisis. “There was an opportunity, about 15 years ago, for the oil and gas industry to lean very heavily into renewables and to really start the energy transition,” says James. “That is when they had a cost-of-capital advantage, that is when they had great balance sheets. But it did not happen
Also in this section
4 February 2025
This premier event is poised to address the evolving technology and investment demands of North America’s thriving chemical and pharmaceutical sectors
4 February 2025
The threat of Trump tariffs and the departure of Trudeau have sharpened the domestic political focus on boosting the oil and gas industry
3 February 2025
Alaska has been engulfed by a lack of consistent policymaking and highlights the challenges financing energy projects in the US
31 January 2025
Several projects are expected to boost production this year as strategically important region looks to environmental rules, fiscal policies, oil prices and demand trends longer term
