Oil supermajors’ low-carbon spending falls to lowest since 2019

Low-carbon spending by seven oil supermajors hit its lowest since 2019, marking the first time clean energy cuts coincided with rising hydrocarbon investment, per Equirus Securities.ianslive
BP ↘2.59% slashed transition spending by over $5 billion yearly, while Equinor ↘4.09% approved a $410 million gas project at Norway’s Troll field on Friday.esgdive
Geopolitical conflicts and surging AI-driven electricity demand are driving the industry-wide pivot back toward fossil fuels, according to the report.ianslive

Oil Majors Slash Low-Carbon Spending to Lowest Level Since 2019

Global oil supermajors have cut their combined low-carbon investments to roughly $8.3 billion in 2025 — the lowest level since 2019 — down from approximately $24 billion in 2024, according to a report from Equirus Securities published this week. The retreat marks the first time spending on clean energy initiatives has declined while hydrocarbon investments simultaneously increased.ianslive

A Industry-Wide Pivot

The pullback spans the sector. BP announced in February 2025 that it would slash energy transition spending by more than $5 billion per year, reducing the allocation to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion annually, while boosting oil and gas expenditure to around $10 billion per year. The company now targets production of 2.3 to 2.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030, with its US portfolio alone expected to reach around one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by that date.reuters

Equinor on Friday approved a new subsea gas development at Norway’s Troll field, investing just over NOK 4 billion (approximately $410 million) in the TWIN project, which is expected to add around 11 billion standard cubic meters of gas with production targeted for 2028. The project forms the third stage of Troll Phase 3, reinforcing the company’s commitment to long-term gas supply to Europe.reuters

Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron have all committed to increasing fossil fuel production as well.earth

Energy Security and AI Demand Drive the Shift

The Equirus report attributes the industry-wide reallocation to energy security concerns arising from geopolitical conflicts and surging electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence and data centers. A separate BloombergNEF analysis published in March found that spending on low-carbon technologies across all oil and gas majors fell by more than a third in 2025 — the first annual decline in eight years.seekingalpha

The trend reflects a broader reassessment within the industry about the pace of the energy transition. BP’s CEO Murray Auchincloss framed the company’s strategy reset as a move toward “reducing and reallocating capital expenditure to our highest-returning businesses to drive growth”. Climate advocates warn the pullback undermines progress toward emissions reduction targets at a time when the International Energy Agency has called on the sector to dramatically increase clean energy investment.esgdive