ISSN (print) - 0131-7652

ISSN (online) - 2686-7605

Vol. 51 No. 7 (2021)
Тема номера: Радужные надежды энергоперехода

The Low-carbon Future of Hydrocarbon Companies: The Case of American and European Oil Producers

  • N. Pusenkova
N. Pusenkova
Institute of World Economy and International Relations of Russian Academy of Sciences n.a. Ye. M. Primakov, Moscow
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30680/ECO0131-7652-2021-7-73-96

Published 2021-07-13

Keywords

  • oil companies,
  • CO2 emissions,
  • decarbonization,
  • climate policy,
  • energy transition,
  • renewables,
  • BP,
  • Royal Dutch Shell,
  • Total,
  • Equinor,
  • ExxonMobil,
  • Chevron
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

1.
Pusenkova Н. The Low-carbon Future of Hydrocarbon Companies: The Case of American and European Oil Producers. ECO [Internet]. 2021 Jul. 13 [cited 2025 Jun. 6];51(7):73-96. Available from: https://ecotrends.ru/index.php/eco/article/view/4281

Abstract

The paper studies energy and economic forecasts and scenarios of the post-COVID future that are developed by the leading European and American oil companies. It compares the different perceptions of the climate policy and low-carbon solutions by the EU and US majors. The author reviews specific decarbonisation efforts taken by Total and Equinor during COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. development of renewables, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen production, promotion of electric mobility, etc. Evidently, the new “net zero by 2050” strategy of the European oil companies entails a radical transformation of their business models: they are evolving from vertically-integrated oil companies into broad energy companies. By contrast, ExxonMobil and Chevron continue to focus on traditional oil and gas activities and simply aim at enhancing energy efficiency and reducing carbon intensity of their operations and products.

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