* 75% of oil, gas reserves to be produced by 2030, Shell
says
* Shell says climate plan "fully consistent" with U.N. goals
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell said
on Thursday the majority of its oil and gas reserves will be
produced by 2050, playing down the risk of stranded assets as it
prepares to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming
decades.
The disclosure is still a rare admission by a major oil and
gas company that some of its reserves may be worthless in a
world shifting away from fossil fuels to renewable energy in an
effort to stem global warming.
The Anglo-Dutch company said in a document to investors
summarising its climate strategy that around 75% of its proved
oil and gas reserves will be produced by 2030, with an
additional 3% produced after 2040.
Since late 2019, Shell has wiped out over $20 billion from
the value of its oil and gas reserves after lowering the outlook
for commodity prices because of the energy transition and the
impact on demand of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shell aims to cut its emissions from well-head to petrol
station to net zero by 2050, and has set out intermediate
targets, in one of the sector's most ambitious plans.
The company said it will focus on hydrogen, biofuels and
offshore wind as well as carbon-sucking technologies and
planting trees, but it has yet to outline exact plans for
reaching the target.
Its annual spending is however set to stay focused on oil
and gas in the coming years.
Shell, the world's largest oil and gas trader, said that it
sells around 4.6% of energy consumed in the world and produces
around 1.4% of total primary energy.
Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said the net-zero strategy
is "fully consistent" with the more stringent U.N.-backed goal
set in a 2015 Paris conference to limit global warming.
But climate activists have criticised plans to let oil and
gas reserves dwindle while using carbon offsets.
The United Nations and research groups last year said that
the world plans to produce more than double the amount of coal,
oil and gas in 2030 than would be consistent with the Paris
goals.
The Anglo-Dutch company said it will put its energy
transition strategy to a non-binding vote at its upcoming annual
general meeting in May, an unprecedented move for oil and gas
companies, said Adam Matthews, Director of Ethics & Engagement
for the Church of England Pensions Board, who has led investor
engagement with Shell.
"With this latest important step in Shell's transition from
an oil and gas producer to be an energy company, a multi-decadal
transition is clearly underway," Matthews said in a statement.
"This is not the end of investor engagement."
(Additional reporting by Susanna Twidale; editing by Barbara
Lewis)
