In Brief

The oil hunter in the Arctic: in the Arctic, Shell is a leader, but not in the way one would hope. It is the first super-major oil company that plans to exploit the fragile Arctic in a high risk hunt for fossil fuels. A search made possible by the rapidly melting ice, itself a result of climate change. Any oil project in the Arctic offshore means new carbon emissions killing Arctic ice as well as a lost opportunity to redirect investment to green energy. Shell has completely dropped renewable energy from its long-term strategy. The oil exploration in the Arctic has biodiversity consequences. While Shell confidently tells us that it has «made numerous plans for dealing with oil in ice». The company also admits that the technical and environmental challenges of oil exploration in the Arctic «are immense». Specialists believe that «there is really no solution or method today that we’re aware of that can actually recover spilt oil from the Arctic». Shell senses a clear opportunity in Alaska, arguing that «much like landing on the moon, it doesn’t hurt to be first.»

Shell

Main Office: Den Haag, Netherlands

Industry: Oil and Gas

Revenue / Net Income: 470 billion $ / 30,9 billion $

Owned by: publicly owned

Employees: 90’000

President Board of Directors: Jorma Ollila

CEO: Peter Voser

Website: www.shell.com