SHELL BREAKS PLEDGE TO LOWER OIL PRODUCTION AND COMMITS TO MAKING SHAREHOLDERS WEALTHIER

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Shell CEO Wael Sawan released the company’s new plan. Its mission? To ditch the company’s plan of lowering oil production by 1-2% per year until the end of the decade, and further enrich wealthy investors. Shell promises to buy back at least $5 billion of its shares from investors and raise the company’s dividend payment to shareholders by a whopping 15%. 

Instead of aiming to lower costs for working families at the pump, Shell rewarded its executives and shareholders with $26 billion in dividends and stock buybacks last year. In this year’s first quarter alone, Shell made $9.6 billion in profits and spent $4.3 billion on buybacks and $2 billion on dividends for wealthy Wall Street investors and shareholders. 

“While working families are bearing the brunt of high gas prices at the pump, oil companies like Shell are rewarding investors, and breaking their promises to decarbonize and help fight climate change,” said Noreen Nielsen, Climate Power Senior Advisor. “Shell reversing course on its plan to lower oil production proves that they never truly cared to address climate change in the first place.” 

Breaking decarbonization promises is nothing new for Big Oil. Earlier this year, BP dialed back from its target to reduce emissions by 35 percent by 2030, and Shell and Exxon have backed away from their promise to invest in clean energy, all while oil and gas companies made a whopping $400 billion in profits last year.