Shell will stabilize its oil production by 2030 and arouses the consternation of environmental associations

A highly criticized step backwards. The oil giant Shell announced on Wednesday June 14 that it would “stabilize its production of liquids until 2030”, while he had unveiled in 2021 reduction targets of 1 to 2% per year. The group maintains that it has already achieved its production reduction objectives over the period. A spokesperson for Shell, joined by AFP, underlines that the objectives displayed in 2021, and based on the production of 2019, were reached as early as 2022 thanks to transfers such as the sale of shale oil deposits in the United States. United.

“We are investing to provide the energy security that customers need”justifies the general manager of Shell, Wael Sawan. He adds that “The pace of transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energies depended on many things, including government policies, the cost of energy development and consumer demand.” The International Energy Agency (IEA) has also sketched for the first time a peak in global oil demand “before the end of the decade” thanks to the rise of the electric car.

This announcement comes as scientists have established with certainty that the rise in the Earth’s average temperature, which has warmed by 1.1°C since the 19th century, is due to human activities, which consume fossil fuels ( coal, oil and gas). INGO Global Witness castigates this “180 degree turn” of the oil giant, initiated “on the back of the energy crisis instead of accelerating green investments”. “Like other fossil fuel giants who have also scaled back their ambitions, Shell now admits it has no plans to change its business model, which is inconsistent with efforts” against “climate collapse”comments for its part the NGO Friends of the Earth.