Climate change presents oil producers with a dilemma. If the world is to meet the goal of the Paris agreement and keep the rise in global temperatures to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius, it is very likely that by 2040 oil consumption will have to fall. But oil companies want both to say they are taking the threat seriously, in response to pressure from investors, politicians and the public, and to hold out the promise that they can continue to grow.
Many of the oil executives attending a major energy conference in Houston this week wanted to put across the same message about how they planned to tackle that dilemma. Even if demand does fall in the coming decades, they say, they will be resilient enough to thrive.
Under the restrictions imposed by the carbon emissions targets, it will be a case of survival of the fittest