The Energy Mix

Top Menu

  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact

Main Menu

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
  • About
  • Latest Digest/Archive
  • Partners
  • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

logo

  • News Archive by Category
    • Climate & Society
      • Carbon Levels & Measurement
      • Carbon-Free Transition
      • Climate Action/”Blockadia”
      • Climate Denial & Greenwashing
      • Climate Policy/Meetings/Negotiations
      • Culture, Curiosities, & Humour
      • Demographics
      • Energy Politics
      • Energy Subsidies
      • Energy/Carbon Pricing & Economics
      • Finance & Investment
      • First Peoples
      • Insurance & Liability
      • International Agencies & Studies
      • Jobs & Training
      • Legal & Regulatory
      • Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion
      • Methane
      • Travel, Leisure & Recreation
    • Climate Impacts & Adaptation
      • Biodiversity & Habitat
      • Drought, Famine & Wildfires
      • Food Security
      • Forests & Deforestation
      • Health & Safety
      • Heat & Temperature
      • Human Rights & Migration
      • Ice Loss & Sea Level Rise
      • International Security & War
      • Severe Storms & Flooding
      • Soil & Natural Sequestration
      • Water
    • Demand & Distribution
      • Air & Marine
      • Auto & Alternative Vehicles
      • Batteries/Storage
      • Buildings
      • Cities
      • Electricity Grid
      • Energy Access & Equity
      • Off-Grid
      • Petrochemicals & Plastics
      • Supply Chains & Consumption
      • Transit
      • Walking & Biking
    • Jurisdictions
      • Africa
      • Arctic & Antarctica
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • Brazil
      • Canada
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • International
      • Mexico, Caribbean & Latin America
      • Middle East
      • Oceans
      • Small Island States
      • South & Central America
      • Sub-National Governments
      • United States
    • Non-Renewable Energy
      • CCS & Negative Emissions
      • Coal
      • Nuclear
      • Oil & Gas
      • Pipelines/Rail Transport
      • Shale & Fracking
      • Tar Sands/Oil Sands
    • Opinion & Analysis
    • Renewable Energy
      • Bioenergy
      • Demand & Efficiency
      • General Renewables
      • Geothermal
      • Hydrogen
      • Hydropower
      • Research & Development
      • Solar
      • Wave & Tidal
      • Wind
  • Special Reports
    • Alberta’s Bitumen Pipe Dream
    • Canada’s Drive to Net Zero
    • Carbon Farming
    • City and Sub-National Action
    • Drawdown
    • Drive to 1.5
    • 26-Week Climate Transition Program for Canada
    • America’s Electoral Climate 2020
    • Canada’s Climate Change Election 2019
    • The Energy Mix Yearbook 2018
      • Climate Extremes
      • Fossils Go For Broke
      • Renewables (R)Evolution
      • Electric Vehicles
      • Canada’s Contradiction
      • COP24
      • Pipeline Politics
      • Jobs and Just Transition
      • Cities and Sub-Nationals
      • Finance and Divestment
      • Climate Litigation
  • Webinars & Podcasts
Advanced Search
Carbon-Free TransitionEuropeFinance & InvestmentOil & GasSolarWind
Home›Climate & Society›Carbon-Free Transition›Fossils’ Five-Year Spending Plan Shows $17.5B for Renewables, $166B for New Oil and Gas

Fossils’ Five-Year Spending Plan Shows $17.5B for Renewables, $166B for New Oil and Gas

May 31, 2020
May 31, 2020
 
260
1
Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  Print This Story
Lydia Jacobs/Public Domain Pictures

Despite fossils’ loud claims to be taking the climate crisis and the renewable energy transition seriously, they only plan to spend US$17.5 billion on solar and wind projects over the next five years. And one company—Equinor, the Norwegian state fossil previously known as Statoil—accounts for $10 billion of that total, new analysis by Rystad Energy shows.

With the “notable exceptions” of Equinor and one other company, Portugal’s GALP, “the investments in renewables by the other oil giants will not even match the typical capital expenditure requirements of a single oil and gas field in their respective portfolios,” Rystad writes, in an analysis for OilPrice.com.

Like this story? Subscribe to The Energy Mix and never miss an edition of our free e-digest.

SUBSCRIBE

And the $17.5 billion, almost all of it coming from 10 oil majors, “pales in comparison to the $166 billion they are forecast to spend on greenfield oil and gas projects during the same period,” the Oslo-based data firm notes. 

“Recent suggestions of ‘resilient green strategies’ or ‘business as usual’ simply do not carry much weight, with the exception of Equinor,” said Rystad Product Manager for Renewables Gero Farruggio. “Not until later in the decade do we see an increase in renewable spending from other companies.”

Equinor’s spending includes $6.5 billion over the next three years to build out a capital-intensive offshore wind portfolio, Rystad reports. “We do not expect this forecast to be heavily affected by the fluctuating oil price or capex cuts, as much of the company’s renewable portfolio is already committed, such as the massive Dogger Bank offshore wind project in the UK,” the company states.

“If Equinor is removed from the outlook, however, renewable investments from major oil and gas companies can be seen in a very different light, declining over the next three years,” before even factoring in fossils’ more recent capital spending cuts in the face of cratering oil prices.

But if they wanted to, Rystad says fossils could cut their capital spending 20% in response to the coronavirus pandemic “while easily avoiding any cuts to renewable projects”. Indeed, “COVID-19 could also be the catalyst for oil majors to pump more capital into renewables, acquiring assets, developing skills, and nurturing the capacity to transition beyond petroleum.”

The pandemic “is creating a number of distressed sellers and reducing acquisition costs for assets and companies, thereby creating opportunities for Big Oil to accelerate its energy transition through acquisitions,” Farruggio said—and that could still happen. With fossil exploration and production companies “announcing deep spending cuts, we may yet see a ramp up in renewable investments as recent headlines suggest, facilitated by new mergers and acquisitions.”

TagsBitumen BubbleBitumen Bubble Finance & DivestmentEnergy Central - Clean PowerWe Don't Have Time
Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  Print This Story

Find more stories about
Carbon-Free TransitionEuropeFinance & InvestmentOil & GasSolarWind

    1 comment

    1. Fossils’ Five-Year Spending Plan Shows $17.5B for Renewables, $166B for New Oil and Gas – Enjeux énergies et environnement 31 May, 2020 at 22:47 Reply

      […] The Energy Mix https://theenergymix.com/2020/05/31/fossils-five-year-spending-plan-shows-17-5b-for-renewables-166b-… via […]

    Leave a reply Cancel reply

    Recent Posts

    • Fossils Create Less than 1% of Canadian Jobs, Making 20-Year Phaseout ‘Very Feasible’, Study Concludes
      Fossils Create Less than 1% of Canadian Jobs, Making 20-Year Phaseout ‘Very Feasible’, Study Concludes
      January 20, 2021
    • Biden Brings a Policy ‘Sea Change’, Podesta Tells GreenPAC Webinar
      Biden Brings a Policy ‘Sea Change’, Podesta Tells GreenPAC Webinar
      January 20, 2021
    • Campaign Promises, Cabinet and Senate Leadership Put Climate at Centre of Biden Agenda
      Campaign Promises, Cabinet and Senate Leadership Put Climate at Centre of Biden Agenda
      January 20, 2021
    • TC Energy Touts ‘Zero-Emissions’ Plan, Kenney Threatens Court Action as Keystone Cancellation Looms
      TC Energy Touts ‘Zero-Emissions’ Plan, Kenney Threatens Court Action as Keystone Cancellation Looms
      January 20, 2021
    • Alberta Cancels 11 Coal Leases, Allows Development on 420,000 Hectares after Petitions Gather 100,000 Signatures [Sign-Ons]
      Alberta Cancels 11 Coal Leases, Allows Development on 420,000 Hectares after Petitions Gather 100,000 Signatures [Sign-Ons]
      January 20, 2021

    News Feed

    Top News

    • Fitch Sees Asian Solar, Wind Exceeding 1,500 GW by 2029
      January 21, 2021
    • Survey Shows Oklahoma, Texas Drawing More Fossil Investment than Alberta
      January 21, 2021

    Read More

    Carbon-Free Transition

    • Fitch Sees Asian Solar, Wind Exceeding 1,500 GW by 2029
      January 21, 2021
    • Indigenous Agroforesters Revive Palm Forests in Brazil
      January 21, 2021

    Read More

    Canada

    • Hydrogen Train Deal Brings Investor Attention to B.C-Based Ballard
      January 21, 2021
    • Analysts Tout Intertie Between Site C in B.C., Electricity Demand in Alberta
      January 21, 2021

    Read More

    U.S.

    • Climate Change Drives Up Cost of U.S. Flooding
      January 21, 2021
    • ‘Charging Deserts’ for EVs Create Racial Divide in Chicago
      January 21, 2021

    Read More

    International

    • Norway Projects Oil Production Cuts through 2023
      January 21, 2021
    • Japanese Owner Writes Off Australia’s Newest Coal Plant as Worthless
      January 21, 2021

    Read More

    • About the Energy Mix
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy and Copyright
    Copyright 2020 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.