Oil companies increasing their footprint in renewables

I’m not big on renewable sources of energy. I’m in the camp that thinks they are not reliable enough to be a consistent supply of energy. I would like to see nuclear embraced more. All that said, oil companies are not standing still.

European oil companies including BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are building new wind and solar projects and striking deals to supply electricity to big corporate buyers like Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. , treading into the domain of traditional power companies.

The moves come as more businesses look to limit their carbon emissions, with companies buying a record amount of renewable power last year and on track to hit a fresh high this year, according to data from BloombergNEF.

Wall Street Journal

I hold positions in Exxon and Chevron and they have elected to continue on with fossil fuels. Regardless of using oil for energy there are so many things that come from crude oil that there is no way it can disappear… at least in my lifetime. I think this may play well for Exxon and Chevron making their holdings more valuable.

However, BP says returns in this business are 8%-10%, lower than what it gets from its traditional oil and gas business. Green power supply is still a fledgling business alongside BP’s giant hydrocarbon operations.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. haven’t entered this business, another example of the divergence in strategies between the U.S. and European majors. Those U.S. companies have sourced renewable energy for their own use.

Wall Street Journal
Image by Monika Wrangel from Pixabay

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