Extreme Temperature Diary-October 12th, 2019/Oil Firms Are Not Transitioning Towards Green Energy

Main Topic: Oil Firms Are Not Transitioning Towards Green Energy

Saturday October 12th… Dear Diary. The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track United States extreme or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below at the very end of this daily blog. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉

Well, today’s main topic comes as s shock…not really. Over the last few days during my spare time I’ve been reading the new book by Rachel Maddow…Blowout. I highly recommend getting Rachel’s book, but it will make your blood boil with anger if you are dealing with the climate crisis. The tentacles of big oil are more engrained into world economies and society than even I ever imagined…and I have a vivid imagination says my sidekick Thermo.😉

In all seriousness though, this tweet coming from my Scottish friend Professor Peter Strachan has let me know that the oil industry is planning on dumping more CO2 polluting oil on the world market, not scaling back, and certainly not making serious plans to transition towards green energy:

Here is more from the linked Guardian piece:

Projected production surge in next 12 years to be led by Shell despite climate crisis

by Jonathan Watts, Jillian Ambrose and Adam Vaughan

The world’s 50 biggest oil companies are poised to flood markets with an additional 7m barrels per day over the next decade, despite warnings from scientists that this will push global heating towards catastrophic levels.

New research commissioned by the Guardian forecasts Shell and ExxonMobil will be among the leaders with a projected production increase of more than 35% between 2018 and 2030 – a sharper rise than over the previous 12 years.

The acceleration is almost the opposite of the 45% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 that scientists say is necessary to have any chance of holding global heating at a relatively safe level of 1.5C.

The projections are by Rystad Energy, a Norwegian consultancy regarded as the gold standard for data in the industry. The rising trend they reveal highlights how major players seem to be ignoring government promises, scientific alarms and a growing public outcry so they can pump more fossil fuels – and profits – out of the ground.

Rystad bases its work on companies’ assets and a long-term oil price of $65 a barrel, similar to its current level.

The forecast shows an almost 8% rise in the projected output of the top 50 oil and gas companies between 2018 and 2030, which would account for almost two-fifths of the remaining 1.5C carbon budget and increase the risk of heatwaves, hurricanes, forest fires and floods.

At least 14 of the 20 biggest historical carbon producers plan to pump out more hydrocarbons in 2030 than in 2018, according to the Rystad data.

Its analysis shows the US is the centre of the latest global oil boom, with more than four times more new production than the next country, Canada, over the next 10 years.

The expansion will primarily be in the Permian basin in Texas. BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips will be involved, as well as smaller, faster-growing private firms that are together driving this single US state to produce more oil and gas than all of Saudi Arabia by 2030.

Massive new drilling projects are also under way or planned in north-west Argentina, off the Caribbean shores of Guyana, in Kazakhstan’s Kashagan oilfield, in the Yamal peninsula in Siberia and in the Barents Sea.

For more please read from this Guardian link:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/10/oil-firms-barrels-markets?CMP=share_btn_tw

Ever since the start of the European Renaissance big money has ruled the world. We started to see this phenomenon first in Italy and Spain then becoming dominant in the 17th century by the time Dutch, French and English trading companies were enticed by the prospect of high profits. Profiteering did fuel our modern world creating a higher quality of life for most worldwide, though. Point being that it is going to take a tremendous effort to overcome centuries of capitalistic tradition, greed and yes corruption to reign in big oil in the 21st century.

Tomorrow we will look at what the International Monetary Fund is proposing, keeping in mind the headwinds being blown by big oil fueled by so much money and the prospect for even greater profits.

Here is more climate and weather news from Saturday:

(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article.)

(If you like these posts and my work please contribute via the PayPal widget, which has recently been added to this site. Thanks in advance for any support.) 

Guy Walton- “The Climate Guy”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *