Wins by climate activists find unlikely backer, ‘hostile regimes’

With Western oil majors pressured to cut emissions, state-owned oil firms will step in without those expectations.

Climate activists who scored big against Western majors last week had some unlikely cheerleaders in the oil capitals of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Russia. Defeats in the courtroom and boardroom mean Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron are all under pressure to cut carbon emissions faster. That is good news for the likes of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Russia’s Gazprom and Rosneft. It means more business for them and the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).