The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

CVX’s CEO tells it like it is:

https://www.ft.com/content/83d93bdd-659a-47b3-96bf-40884ef46a09?shareType=nongift

Mike Wirth, Chevron’s chief executive, said a premature effort to transition from fossil fuels had resulted in “unintended consequences”, including energy supply insecurity from crisis-hit Europe to California.

…Wirth said the source of the energy crunch predated Russia’s invasion and followed years of under-investment in new oil supply. Annual capital spending on oil and gas projects was now about half the rate seen in years before the pandemic, he said, even though demand for the energy has continued to rise.

Meanwhile, spending on alternatives to oil and gas was “woefully short, trillions of dollars short”, Wirth said. The mismatch “illustrates the risk in moving from a system that keeps the world functioning today aggressively to another system, and shutting down nuclear, shutting down coal, discouraging oil and gas”, he added.