NorthAmOil: ExxonMobil says IEA's 2050 net zero emissions scenario “unlikely”

Oil supermajor ExxonMobil has said that a scenario of net-zero emissions by 2050 globally is “unlikely”. The comment came in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to a proxy advisor.

Glass Lewis, a leading proxy advisor based in San Francisco, has put pressure on the oil and gas company to report on the risks to its business from restrictions on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and potential environmental disasters.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) scenario of 2050 net-zero emissions (NZE) envisions that no new fossil fuels will be extracted after 2021 to keep the world temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The world would also have to shift predominantly to renewable energy, the IEA has said.

ExxonMobil would face material financials risks from the IEA’s net-zero scenario and could have to abandon projects, warned Glass Lewis.

The Texas-based oil company is pushing back hard. "It is clear that the IEA NZE does not, by the [IEA’s] own assessment, meet the level of likelihood required to be considered in our financial statements," Exxon said in a filing to the SEC.

ExxonMobil, one of the most conservative oil and gas companies with regard to the energy transition, also described the NZE scenario as a remote possibility.

“Glass Lewis apparently believes the likelihood of the IEA NZE scenario is well beyond what the IEA itself contends: that the world is not on the NZE path and that this is a very aggressive scenario,” ExxonMobil said.