The world’s richest sovereign wealth fund severed ties with 32 coal mining companies, removing them from its portfolio in 2014, based on the risk of facing regulatory action on climate change. “Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), worth $850bn (£556bn) and founded on the nation’s oil and gas wealth, revealed a total of 114 companies had been dumped on environmental and climate grounds in its first report on responsible investing, released on Thursday. The companies divested also include tar sands producers, cement makers and gold miners.
As part of a fast-growing campaign, over $50bn in fossil fuel company stocks have been divested by 180 organisations on the basis that their business models are incompatible with the pledge by the world’s governments to tackle global warming. But the GPFG is the highest profile institution to divest to date.” [The Guardian]
Major oil companies struggled to find and produce oil and gas last year, according to figures out in the past week – mainly due to big cuts in spending in response to falling crude prices. “Four of the world’s six biggest oil firms by market value – Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, BP and ConocoPhillips – released provisional figures showing together they replaced only two-thirds of the hydrocarbons they extracted in 2014 with new reserves.
Combined, those four and industry leader ExxonMobil posted an average drop in oil and gas production of 3.25 percent last year. All predict their output will increase and new reserves will be added in coming years. But the 2014 results echo longer-term trends.” [Reuters via Rigzone]
Venezuela’s economic shortcomings have diminished their reputation within Latin America, according to late president Hugo Chavez’s top economic planner. “Former Finance and Planning Minister Jorge Giordani, who was sacked in mid-2014 by Chavez’s successor, Nicolas Maduro, said in an interview this week that reforms in the South American OPEC nation are years overdue.
“We should have taken measures from Oct. 7, 2012,” Giordani told local website notitimes.com, referring to the date of Chavez’s last presidential election victory. Chavez, who was president for 14 years, died of cancer in 2013.
“In truth, we are almost the laughing stock of Latin America,” Giordani, 75, said. “If the situation is bad, if the thermometer is at 40 degrees, there are those who blame the thermometer … We need to acknowledge the crisis, comrades.” [Reuters]
