Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 19 2022

NorthAmOil ENERGY TRANSITION NorthAmOil

ConocoPhillips shareholders reject

Scope 3 emissions target proposal

US CONOCOPHILLIPS shareholders voted to ConocoPhillips to align its targets with the Paris
reject a proposal to include Scope 3 emissions Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming.
in the company’s overall greenhouse gas (GHG) Activist investors have become emboldened
reduction targets at its annual meeting on May by several successes over the past year, includ-
10. A preliminary count showed that only 39% of ing Engine No. 1’s achievement of having three
shareholders had voted in favour of the proposal of its nominees elected to ExxonMobil’s board.
to include Scope 3 emissions – those generated Pushing for more oil and gas producers to
through the use of its products by customers – in adopt Scope 3 emissions reduction targets has
its overall GHG reduction targets. become one of the next major challenges for
The company’s board recommended that such groups.
shareholders vote against the proposal, which Follow This said that the failure of its resolu-
had been submitted by Dutch activist share- tion to pass this year may have come as a result of
holder group Follow This. The board said it did the more stringent targets in the 2022 proposal.
not believe Scope 3 targets were appropriate for a It also suggested that ConocoPhillips might have
business focused entirely on the exploration and convinced shareholders that addressing current
production of fossil fuels. It added that during energy shortages should trump dealing with cli-
engagement with investors, some shareholders mate change.
had “expressed particular concern” that “setting Last week, shareholders in Occidental Petro-
a Scope 3 target could actually harm our business leum also voted to reject a Follow This proposal
and their interests in long-term value”. to extend its emissions reduction targets. Occi-
Last year, shareholders voted 58% in favour dental has already adopted a long-term net-zero
of a measure to set emissions reduction tar- goal for its Scope 3 emissions, and indeed was
gets for the company’s operations and prod- the first major US oil and gas producer to have
ucts. However, that resolution did not require done so.™

SK E&S invests in US CCS project

NORTH DAKOTA SUMMIT Carbon Solutions’ carbon capture pipeline. It will then be permanently sequestered
and storage (CCS) project in North Dakota in “extensively researched subsurface geologic
received a boost this week on the announce- formations”.
ment that South Korean power utility and gas Summit began developing plans for the
provider SK E&S would invest $110mn in the facility in 2019 and launched the project early
scheme. last year. In March, Continental Resources
The investment will give SK E&S a 10% stake announced it would invest $250mn in the
in Iowa-based Summit, a biofuel and renewable development. This week, Summit said its equity
energy firm. Summit’s CCS project is aimed at fundraising efforts had been completed, hav-
capturing and storing up to 12mn tonnes per ing resulted in over $1bn in total equity com-
year (tpy) of carbon dioxide (CO2) from 32 corn mitments. The figure appears to include SK
ethanol plants in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, E&S’ investment, as well as a newly announced
North Dakota and South Dakota. The project $300mn from TPG Rise Climate.
has the potential to be expanded to handle up to For SK E&S, a unit of SK Group, the move
20mn tpy of CO2. is part of a broader push to embrace the energy
Construction of the facility and the pipeline, transition, and one of a few separate CCS initi-
which Summit says will be the largest of its kind, atives. The company is also planning to develop
is expected to begin in the first half of 2023. The CCS at the Barossa gas project in Australia, in
company is targeting start-up for the second half which it partners with operator Santos. Addi-
of 2024. tionally, it is planning to use CCS to produce blue
According to Summit, the CO2 will be hydrogen at a domestic plant that it is currently
aggregated and transported to North Dakota via constructing in South Korea.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 19 12•May•2022