Shell said its oil production has now peaked and will decline by up to 2% each year, with its “traditional fuel” production expected to fall by 55% by the end of this decade.
It also confirmed company emissions peaked in 2018, and set out new incremental targets for emissions reduction as it aims to achieve net zero by 2050.
At a strategy day to outline its forward-looking plan and make a pitch to investors about the low-carbon transition, the Anglo-Dutch oil major detailed how it would take an approach of “value over volume” aimed at unlocking clean energy markets that can help its customers to decarbonise.
Unlike similarly-pivoting rivals such as BP which are ploughing money into building renewable generation capacity, Shell will prioritise lowering the carbon intensity of the products it sells and trades, establishing itself as a “manager of clean electrons” rather than a high-volume producer of green energy.
Over the ten-year period, the company plans to double the amount of electricity it sells to 560TWh per year, serving 15m retail customers globally. It also plans to increase its network of electric vehicle charging points to 500,00 by 2025 – a huge increase from the 60,000 it operates at present.
Biofuels and hydrogen will form key parts of the decarbonisation strategy, with Shell targeting a “double-digit” market share of global clean hydrogen sales.