We're all doomed (Mr Daybreak)31 Jan 2024 20:44
It is the end of an era for Big Oil in California, as the most populous U.S. state divorces itself from fossil fuels in its fight against climate change.
California’s oil output a century ago amounted to it being the fourth-largest crude producer in the U.S., and spawned hundreds of oil drillers, including some of the largest still in existence. Oil led to its car culture of iconic highways, drive-in theatres, banks and restaurants that endures today.
On Friday, however, the marriage will officially end. The two largest U.S. oil producers, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, will formally disclose a combined $5 billion write down of California assets when they report fourth-quarter results.
“They are definitely getting a divorce,” said Jamie Court, president of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which said the companies long ago stopped investing in California production, and now want to hive off their old wells there. “They’ve been separated for more than a decade, now they are just signing the papers.”
Exxon Mobil last year exited onshore production in the State, ending a 25-year-long partnership with Shell PLC , when they sold their joint-venture properties.
Costly write down of the No.1 U.S. oil producer’s asset will cost about $2.5 billion and officially end five decades of oil production off the coast of Southern California.
Chevron will also take charges of about $2.5 billion tied to its California assets. It is staying but bitterly contesting State regulations on its oil producing and refining operations in the State, where it was born 145 years ago as Pacific Coast Oil Co.
California’s energy policies are “making it a difficult place to invest,” even for renewable fuels, a Chevron executive said this month. The company pumps oil from fields developed 100 years ago but has cut spending in the state by “hundreds of millions of dollars since 2022,” the executive said.
In the 70s and 80s, the State set curbs on drilling near homes and businesses and regulations on air pollution - rules that have been copied widely across the U.S. In 1996, California introduced reformulated gasoline to fight smog, developing the country’s most stringent and costly environmental standards.
That mixed legacy overshadowed oil’s economic contributions. California’s high-tech industry long ago replaced oil as a major employer and its Governor, Gavin Newsom, has called for the State to ban sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles.