Fortescue miner giant says Big Oil is wrong with renewable energies

The Magnate of Australian Mining Andrew Forrest, founder and executive president of FortescueHe says that Big Oil is wrong with renewable energies, at a time when European energy specialties They are doubling fossil fuels To increase the returns of short -term shareholders.

Great Britain BP and Norway Equinor Both plans are recently described to reduce renewable expense in favor of oil and gas. In London ShellMeanwhile, it has also reduced green investment plans.

US oil. Exxon Mobil and Chevronwho have surpassed their European rivals in recent years, have generally advocated transition options such as Carbon capture and storage and hydrogeninstead of for renewable technologies such as wind and solar.

“I have always discovered that the customer is always right, so we are renewable and move away from oil and gas because our customers say: ‘We want energy but not at any cost, and if you can give us green energy at the same price as dirty (energy), we are going to buy green every day.’Squawk Box Europe“Mondays.

“You have data centers appearing throughout Europe and want green energy if they can get it. They will take dirty (energy) if they can’t, sure. That is Exxon Mobil and Total‘S argument,’ Well, we are just doing what customers want. ‘ Actually, you are not. Your customers want green energy, “said Forrest.

“Well, if (the) oil and gas (industry) do not want to supply green energy, guess what, Fortescue will do it,” he added.

Fortescue, which is the largest iron mineral mining in the world, has described plans To stop burning fossil fuels in its Australian iron mineral operations for the end of the decade, and urged other companies difficult to reduce the same.

Exxon Mobil and Totalgies spokesmen were not immediately available to comment when CNBC contacted Monday.

Last year, Exxon Mobil saying That he expects fossil fuels to constitute more than half of the world’s energy combination in 2050 despite efforts to get away from oil and gas. Meanwhile, Totalgies has been something atypical among its European peers, continuously investing in low carbon technologies as it pursues a “multiple“Offer.

Lindsey Stewart, Director of Research and Investment Administration policy at Morningstar Sustainal andtics, said Monday that it seems that most shareholders in energy supermajors “have decided that the cash is the king, at least in the short term.”

“They have become accustomed to a constant flow of cash in the form of dividends and repurchases of shares in recent years and seem to want management prioritizing cash in short -term long -term energy transition objectives,” Stewart told CNBC by email.

“The management of some of the European companies, BP and Shell in particular, have responded by reducing the investments planned in intensive capital renovations in favor of unlocking effective of fossil fuel assets. None of which is good news for those who seek an accelerated and orderly transition towards lower carbon energy sources,” he added.

He asked how he feels about the trend of American companies recoil In environmental, social and governance objectives (ESG), Fortescue’s Forrest said these decisions reflect an impulse to prioritize quarterly profits and executive bonds on future success.

“It is a very short -term thought to go back to the climatic objectives because it guess who is not listening to you, guess who does not care, guess who is much more powerful than you, than the US administration (or) anyone who can be in the White House or not, is the climate itself,” said Forrest.

“I don’t care about the entire talk”Drill, baby, drill. ‘That is if you want to make a difference in 20 years. But if you want to make a difference in 20 weeks or 20 months, renewable energy and where we are going to make that difference, “said Forrest.

Forrest said on Monday that Fortescue intends to save up to $ 1.2 billion a year by changing Green Energy, noting that this figure represents the annual costs of fossil fuels of the company today.

These savings will help establish a green energy company “that will serve us and others for coming generations,” said Forrest, added that the creation of new and more efficient sustainable technologies will be used to support other companies.

Forrest de Fortescue has previously asked the political leaders who move away from “proven fantasy“Net-Cero emissions for 2050 and instead embraces real zero by 2050.

Scientists have repeatedly He pressed for rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to stop the increase in global average temperatures. These calls have continued through an alarming execution of temperature records, with planet record His most popular year in human history in 2024.

Extreme temperatures are fed for the climatic crisis, whose main conductor is the fossil fuel burning.