It was difficult for my wife and I to choose who to root for in the Texas Children’s Houston Open this past weekend. We always want to see our favorite Texan golfer Scottie Scheffler at the top of the podium, but it was wonderful to see Australian golfer Min Woo Lee win his first PGA tournament in our hometown.
Now, let’s look at two pieces of energy news as we celebrate the one-year anniversary of Well Read 🎉
Shangyou Nie
Editor, Well Read
Shell Reaffirms Its Focus on Oil and Gas
Skorzewiak/Shutterstock.com
Shell recently held its Capital Markets Day (CMD) and said that it would increase upstream production by 1 percent and grow its LNG business 4–5 percent annually until 2030.
CMD highlights:
Shell plans to repurchase up to 40 percent of its shares by 2030, as it continues to believe its share price is undervalued. The company is attempting to close the valuation gap with its American peers ExxonMobil and Chevron.
According to the Financial Times, Shell spent more on dividends and buybacks ($23 billion) than capital investment in 2024.
The European major committed to increasing shareholder distributions to 40–50 percent of cash flow from operations.
In its renewable business, Shell will “take a measured approach:” It plans to limit capital employed to less than 10 percent of the total, leveraging its trading strength.
Shell plans to bring 1 million barrels of oil per day of new production online during the next five years at a breakeven price of $35/barrel.
Shell anticipates first production from LNG Canada in mid-2025.
In the Gulf of Mexico/Gulf of America, Shell expects to maintain a production level of roughly 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day through the 2030s.
In deepwater Brazil, Shell projects an IOC leading position with 380,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day into the 2030s.
Shell completed divestment of its legacy onshore Nigeria business (Shell Petroleum Development Co.) to Renaissance.
Shell’s market cap is at $219 billion, compared to $516 billion for ExxonMobil and $295 billion for Chevron.
Shell’s share price has increased 27 percent from 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2025, compared to a 7-percent increase by ExxonMobil and a 6-percent decrease by Chevron during the same period.
Analysts’ comments:
“I don’t think Shell should trade in line with Exxon. Fundamentally, Exxon has proven to be a better steward of capital over a longer period of time,” Biraj Borkhataria, Global Head of Energy Transition research, RBC Capital Markets. “The discount has moved from 45 percent to 35 percent under Wael Sawan. Could that discount be 20 percent? I think so.”
Shell trading business represented “more than a quarter, less than a third” of future earnings, and is “one of the very largest businesses in all of Shell,” Martijn Rats, Chief Commodity Strategist and Head of European Oil and Gas Equity Research, Morgan Stanley
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released its annual Renewable Capacity Statistics 2025, highlighting a record-breaking growth rate of 15.1 percent in 2024 for renewable power capacity. The 585-gigawatt addition from renewable energy represented 92.5 percent of the total capacity added, even as many countries/companies refocus on fossil fuels.
About IRENA:
Abu Dhabi-based IRENA was founded in 2009 in Bonn, Germany.
IRENA has 168 member countries, in addition to the European Union.
IRENA has been tracking renewable energy capacity for each country since 2015.
IRENA’s definition of renewables includes solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, bioenergy, waste, and geothermal.
Key report highlights:
Total renewable power capacity has reached 4,448 gigawatts in 2024.
At the end of 2024, renewable energy capacity represented 46.4 percent of the world’s total installed capacity, up from 29.5 percent in 2015.
Asia has the largest renewable power capacity with 2,382 gigawatts, led by China (1,827 gigawatts), India (204 gigawatts) and Japan (132 gigawatts).
Europe comes in second, with 849 gigawatts of renewable capacity, led by Germany (179 gigawatts), Spain (88 gigawatts), and France (74 gigawatts).
North America is the third largest with 573 total gigawatts, led by the United States (428 gigawatts).
On solar:
Solar contributed the highest renewable capacity (42 percent), followed by hydro (29 percent), and wind (25 percent).
Solar power capacity increased the most of any renewable energy form, from 452 gigawatts to 1,865 gigawatts in 2024. This is a YOY increase of 32 percent for the category.
Solar power was led by:
China (887 total gigawatts, 278 new gigawatts)
The United States (177 total gigawatts, 38 new gigawatts)
India (97 total gigawatts, 25 new gigawatts)
On wind:
Wind increased 11 percent YOY, adding 113 gigawatts, for a total of 1,133 gigawatts in 2024.
The wind category was led by:
China (522 total gigawatts, 79 new gigawatts)
The United States (153 total gigawatts, 5 new gigawatts)
Germany (73 total gigawatts, 3 new gigawatts)
Onshore wind represents 93 percent of wind power capacity at 1,053 gigawatts.
Globally, renewable power needs to increase more than 1,120 gigawatts per year for the rest of the decade to reach that target.
What they’re saying:
“The continuous growth of renewables we witness each year is evidence that renewables are economically viable and readily deployable,” Francesco La Camera, Director-General, IRENA
“Renewable energy is powering down the fossil fuel age. Record-breaking growth is creating jobs, lowering energy bills, and cleaning our air. Renewables renew economies,” António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
For a summary of the IRENA report, read this. For the full 2024 statistic table, refer here.
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