Page 4 - NorthAmOil Week 03 2022

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

ExxonMobil unveils net-zero goal

ExxonMobil has announced that it will aim to achieve net-zero GHG emissions on a

Scope 1 and 2 basis by 2050, joining a growing list of oil companies pursuing net zero

GLOBAL EXXONMOBIL announced this week that it the US by 2030. That announcement was part of
would pursue an “ambition” to achieve net-zero a series of moves the company unveiled at the
WHAT: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its oper- time in pursuit of more ambitious decarbon-
ExxonMobil has unveiled ated assets by 2050. isation goals compared with what it had been
an “ambition” to pursue The move represents a significant step for the aiming for previously.
net-zero GHG emissions super-major, which previously avoided com- Now, ExxonMobil is taking its decarbonisa-
across its operated mitting to net zero on the basis that it had no tion plans further still. The latest announcement
assets by 2050. realistic plan for achieving such a goal. However, comes less than a year after the super-major saw
the target falls short of more aggressive net-zero three nominees of activist hedge fund Engine
WHY: commitments set out by European super-ma- No. 1 gain seats on its 12-seat board of direc-
The super-major has jors such as Royal Dutch Shell and BP. tors. Engine No. 1 wants ExxonMobil to take
been under mounting a tougher line on decarbonisation on the basis
pressure from investors, New targets that it would be a more profitable strategy
among others, to pursue In a January 18 statement, ExxonMobil said its than focusing predominantly on fossil fuel
decarbonisation more approach would centre on Scope 1 and 2 emis- production.
aggressively. sions – respectively those stemming directly Andrew Logan, a senior director of oil and
from its operations and indirectly from energy gas at Ceres, which co-ordinates investor action
WHAT NEXT: used to power those operations. Scope 3 emis- on climate change, was quoted by the Financial
The company will develop sions – those resulting from the end-use of Exx- Times as saying ExxonMobil’s announcement
roadmaps for reducing onMobil’s products by its customers – are not was the “clearest evidence yet” that the new
emissions from its included in the plan. directors were having a “tangible impact”. He
operations globally. The plan builds on ExxonMobil’s announce- added, though, that the company still needed a
ment in December that it would pursue net-zero “more ambitious strategy” if it was to be a leader
emissions from its Permian Basin operations in on climate issues.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 03 20•January•2022