A turning point for Big Oil

A turning point for Big Oil

For Big Oil, May 2021 is set to be the month the wind changed. On Wednesday, activist investors added at least two of their own nominees to ExxonMobil's board after warning the supermajor faced an "existential risk“ from its fossil fuel focus. The same day, shareholders approved a measure for Chevron to set strict emissions targets from products that it sells, while a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to cut carbon emissions much faster than it planned. Last week, the International Energy Agency said oil companies must stop all exploration projects from this year if global warming is to be curbed. The petroleum-based economy is beginning to unravel.

Oil's Black Wednesday shows western oil and gas companies are under pressure not just from governments and their policies, and from parts of the general public. Pressure is coming too from activist investors through shareholder votes, and campaign groups through the courts (the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth brought the action against Shell). Shell will appeal against the ruling, and beyond its immense symbolic value it is unclear how much short-term impact the board shake-up at ExxonMobil will have. But the legal and investor victories are bound to inspire more,