The oil giants will also have to contend with intensifying calls to put more money into clean energy
Photograph: Stuart Westmorland/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Stuart Westmorland/Getty ImagesThe bosses of Shell and BP face the same task as they prepare to present their companies’ annual results this week, but at completely different points in their tenures. Wael Sawan will make his City debut after taking over as Shell chief executive at the start of the year.
Sawan will take his bow first, on Thursday, as he fronts Shell’s first full-year results since completing the relocation of its headquarters to London – where the business began as an importer of oriental seashells in the 1830s. He’s wasted little time since taking the role, having. Shell’s figures will be suitably eye-watering: adjusted annual profits are expected to come in around $83bn against $55bn a year ago, including around $19bn in the final quarter of the year, against $16.
– has been lifted by 15%. Shell is spending $18.5bn buying back its own shares this year, a statistic that has only increased the calls for the firm to allocate more of its cash pile towards renewable energy and less to rewarding shareholders. This year’s capital investment is expected to come in at between $23bn and $27bn, but renewables will make up a relatively small proportion of this.
If Sawan chooses to change this narrative and ramp up the company’s green spending, he will be following in Looney’s footsteps. In February 2020, the Irishman said the company had to change to ensure a “rapid transition to net zero”, talking grandly about “reimagining energy for people and our planet”. In the three years since, much of Looney’s focus has been on navigating the pandemic, slashing 10,000 jobs in response.
Wael Sawan will be making his first results presentation since becoming Shell’s chief executive at the start of the year.
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