Sustainability Blog

Chevron Gearing Up for New Energy Future

By Simon Johns - Aug 02, 2021

Chevron Corp. launched a business unit dedicated to commercial opportunities in hydrogen, carbon capture, carbon offsets and biofuels, and appointed Jeff Gustavson as its president, the company announced in a press statement at the end of last week.

There was no mention in the statement of investments in renewable energy projects. However, in 2018 the company started funds worth U.S. $400 million for projects aimed at carbon reduction.

Some believe this isn’t enough. In May this year, Follow This, a Dutch environmentalist investor group, rallied 61% of Chevron’s shareholders to press the company to cut Scope 3 emissions – those generated by Chevron’s products. Chevron extracts roughly 1.9 million barrels of oil and natural gas liquids per day and has capacity to produce almost 47,000 b/d of API Group II base oil. 

Follow This brought about other successful investor ballots for climate resolutions at ConocoPhillips and Philips 66, attracting 58% and 80% in favor, respectively.

There is a growing chorus of investors who are frustrated with oil companies’ inertia in reducing their carbon footprints. In the same month as the vote at Chevron, activist investors ousted two board members at ExxonMobil and replaced them with people more likely to implement low-carbon strategies.

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Comments

2 replies on “Chevron Gearing Up for New Energy Future”

Earlier this year, Chevron’s CEO Mike Wirth was on CNBC’s Squawk Box. He cited two drivers: higher returns and lower carbon. Among the specific investments discussed during the interview were renewable/sustainable base oils, which would directly impact its Scope 3 emissions. Novvi LLC, the investment Mr. Wirth cited, enables low-carbon products across a range of the lubricants industry.

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