Analysis-Big Oil gets investor reprieve as energy worries trump climate
concerns
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[May 14, 2022] By
Ross Kerber and Simon Jessop
BOSTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Big Oil has
enjoyed an easier ride at shareholder meetings so far this year compared
with last year's punishing run of hostile investor votes tied to climate
concerns, as those issues have been eclipsed by tight oil supplies.
Major oil companies have handily defeated several high-profile climate
resolutions brought by shareholder activists in the current run of
annual general meetings.
Investors' more supportive stance coincides with a surge in energy
prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and follows the
efforts of many companies to speed up plans to transition to a
low-carbon economy after years of pressure.
"It might be that Big Oil has convinced some investors the energy crisis
overrides the climate crisis," said Dutch environmental activist Mark
van Baal of Follow This, an organization that filed a number of the
resolutions defeated at recent AGMs, referring to the impact of the
conflict in Ukraine.
Last year, companies faced an upsurge of shareholder support for
resolutions and votes on environmental and social issues. ExxonMobil
Corp, for example, had three new directors voted on to the Texas-based
company's board, marking a landmark win for activist investor Engine No.
1.
But that was then.
Only 15% of shareholder votes cast at BP's annual meeting on May 12
backed a call for the British oil company to accelerate its energy
transition, compared to the 21% in favor in a similar vote last year.
Also, 17% of investors backed a call for emissions-reduction targets at
Occidental Petroleum Corp at its May 6 shareholder meeting, while 16%
supported a measure on April 27 asking Marathon Petroleum Corp to report
on how its transition plans affected workers and communities.
At ConocoPhillips, 58% of votes cast last year backed a push to set
emissions-reduction targets. On May 12 only 42% supported a similar
measure that also asked the Houston-based company to set overall
emissions reductions in line with the Paris climate goals, according to
a securities filing.
Shareholder meetings at Exxon, Chevron and Shell are set for later this
month.
Analysts said investors' shift away from environmental priorities partly
reflects concerns as the war in Ukraine, which Russia describes as a
"special military operation," tightens energy supplies.
Geopolitics has "provided a powerful plausible excuse to procrastinate
instead of committing to vital climate action," said Abhijay Sood,
financial sector research manager for ShareAction, a non-governmental
organization that focuses on responsible investment.
Caitlin McSherry, director of investment stewardship at asset manager
Neuberger Berman, said investors could also be responding to the
additional details many companies have issued on their transition plans.
"That gave, maybe, some investors more comfort" to vote with management,
McSherry said. Neuberger declined to discuss most of its votes in
detail.
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Flags fly outside ConocoPhillips offices in Houston, Texas, U.S.,
April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Occidental had argued that it already set appropriate targets. A representative
of the Houston-based company said the outcome of its AGM "reflects the
confidence Oxy's shareholders have in the company's net-zero strategy as well as
the disciplined, rigorous targets we have established."
A ConocoPhillips spokesperson said the vote at its AGM supported its view that
the shareholder proposal for emissions was "not the right solution for an E&P
(exploration and production) company with a transition-oriented portfolio and
production."
A representative of Ohio-based Marathon declined to comment on the vote at its
AGM.
BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
BLACKROCK PULLBACK
A likely marketwide driver has been top asset manager BlackRock Inc, which this
week said it would support fewer such resolutions on topics like climate change
because many were too prescriptive.
The change of mood was also mirrored across a series of similar votes at leading
Wall Street banks in April.
Andrew Logan, senior director of oil and gas programs at Ceres, a Boston-based
nonprofit that seeks to build investor support for climate proposals, said the
low tallies at AGMs could reflect how activists have already convinced many
companies to take steps such as disclosure of emissions, an easier change than
making plans to cut them.
"We're finding an equilibrium here in terms of what investors are willing to
support. It's a healthy process," Logan said.
Some environmental resolutions at shareholder meetings still get strong support.
At Costco Wholesale Corp's AGM on Jan. 20, 70% of votes cast backed a call for
the big-box retailer to set emissions-reduction targets. Costco, which is based
in Washington state, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the United States, at least, politics may have also played a role in voting
at Big Oil, said Heidi Welsh, executive director of the Sustainable Investments
Institute, which tracks shareholder resolutions.
Republicans in Texas, Florida and other U.S. states have campaigned against
corporations they say have gone too far in imposing environmental or social
policies.
"It might be the case that the big (asset) managers have their eye on who's
going to be elected in the fall and they don't want to be in the crosshairs" of
Republicans likely to win, Welsh said.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and by Simon Jessop in London; Additional
reporting by Ron Bousso in London, Sabrina Valle in Houston, and Liz Hampton in
Denver; Editing by Paul Simao)
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