Page 13 - EurOil Week 46 2021

EurOil POLICY EurOil

Scottish leader opposes

Cambo oil project

UK SCOTTISH First Minister Nicola Sturgeon economic recovery – and I do not think that we
sided with environmentalists on November 16 can continue to give the go-ahead to new oil-
Cambo is one of the when she announced that the large Cambo oil- fields, so I do not think that Cambo should get
largest fields on the UK field West of the Shetland Islands should not get the green light,” Sturgeon told members of Scot-
shelf. a greenlight. land’s parliament.
Sturgeon has previously said the UK govern- Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
ment, which holds the power to approve Cambo. has urged against efforts to stop Cambo, insisting in
Should re-examine Cambo given “the severity of August that “we can’t just tear up contracts.”
the climate emergency.” But this marks the first “I am not the one taking that decision, so I
time she has explicitly stated opposition to the have set out a proposal for a climate assessment,
project. and I think that the presumption would be that
Cambo is one of the largest fields on the Cambo could not and should not pass any rigor-
UK shelf. Operator Siccar Point Energy and its ous climate assessment,” Sturgeon said.
partner Shell estimate that over 170mn barrels Siccar Point filed an environmental assess-
of oil could be recovered from the field along ment for Cambo over the summer and it is await-
with 53.5bn cubic feet of gas. But the project has ing approval.
caught the attention of environmentalists, which Sturgeon led the Scottish National Party
are calling for the UK to phase out oil and gas (SNP) through the 2015 Scottish Independ-
production. ence Referendum. In the run-up to the vote she
“I do not think that we can go on extracting stressed the value of Scotland’s remaining oil
new oil and gas forever – that is why we have reserves as an economic justification for break-
moved away from the policy of maximum ing from the UK. ™

Shell leaves the

Netherlands

NETHERLANDS ROYAL Dutch Shell has announced unexpect- Shel’s decision comes months after a court
edly on November 15 it would be moving its tax in the Netherlands ruled that Shell must
The Dutch residency from the Netherlands to the UK, while introduce more ambitious emissions targets,
government said it also simplying its shareholder structure. including one for Scope 3 emissions from the
was “unpleasantly The company will also move its head office to use of its products by customers. The company
surprised.” the UK, and hold board and committee meetings has appealed the verdict, but has nevertheless
there. The Dutch government has responded has said it will take extra steps to reduce its car-
saying it is “unpleasantly surprised” by the bon footprint.
decision. The oil major also said it would be changing
“We are unpleasantly surprised by this. The its legal name from Royal Dutch Shell to just
cabinet deeply regrets this intention,” Dutch Cli- Shell. It is also asking shareholders to vote on
mate Minister Stef Blok stated on social media. simplifying its shareholder structure, scrapping
“We are in talks with Shell on the implications its current dual-class A/B structure with a single
of this move for jobs, key investment decisions line of shares.
and sustainability ... Shell has assured us that the “At a time of unprecedented change for the
personnel consequences of this decision will be industry, it’s even more important that we have
limited to the relocation of a number of execu- an increased ability to accelerate the transition
tive/board positions from the Netherlands to the to a lower-carbon global energy system” Shell
UK.” Chair Andrew Mackenzie explained. “A sim-
The UK government meanwhile said the pler structure will enable Shell to speed up the
announcement was “a vote of confidence in the delivery of its Powering Progress strategy, while
British economy, ,as we work to strengthen com- creating value for our shareholders, customers
petitiveness, attract investment and create jobs.” and wider society.” ™

Week 46 18•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13