Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday made the boldest statement among its peers about the waning of the oil age, saying that its oil production had reached a high in 2019 and was now likely to gradually decline. <\/p>\n
Shell\u2019s \u201ctotal oil production peaked in 2019,\u201d the company said in a statement, and added that it expected a gradual decline of oil production of around 1 to 2 percent annually in coming years. <\/p>\n
The company also said that its carbon emissions probably peaked in 2018.<\/p>\n
Shell said it was beefing up its previously announced effort to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Analysts, though, said there was little that was new in Shell\u2019s announcement about future investments, and the company\u2019s commitments to invest $2 billion to $3 billion a year <\/span>in renewable energy like wind and solar lagged some of its peers in terms of the proportion of capital spending allocated. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDespite the green spin, the substance would suggest a more cautious approach to renewables,\u201d said Stuart Joyner, an analyst at Redburn, a market research firm.<\/p>\n Even before the pandemic wiped out demand for oil last year, energy companies were preparing for a gradual flattening in the world\u2019s appetite for oil, which has trended upward <\/span>for decades. <\/p>\n