Global oil and gas company Shell has issued its 2018 results. The group is preparing for a strategy shift in global energy supplies towards lower-carbon sources and aims at becoming a large electricity supplier by the 2030s. For this purpose, it plans to invest up to US$2bn per year on its new-energies division (including electricity) by 2020, which is only a fraction of its average capital expenditure of US$25bn/year.
The company's current business mostly entails oil production and refining (65%), gas production and development (25%) and 10% for chemicals and other operations. By 2030, oil, gas and electricity could have a 30% share each, with 10% in the chemicals industry. The company's strategy is very similar to the developments announced by other oil and gas companies such as Total and Repsol, which are also moving forward along the electricity market supply chain, i.e. from power generation to electric vehicle (EV) charge points.