LONDON (Dow Jones)--Shareholders in Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) comprehensively rejected a resolution at the company's annual general meeting Tuesday that would have forced a thorough review of the basis for its investments in Canada's oil sands.
Just over 94% of votes cast rejected the resolution, which called on Shell to review whether oil sands investments are economically viable because they require a high oil price to be profitable and are vulnerable to tighter regulations on carbon dioxide emissions in the future.
Shell argued that it had already answered the questions raised in the resolution in a report on oil sands published in March.
Niall O'Shea of Cooperative Asset Management, one of the resolution's sponsors, paid tribute to Shell's, "willingness to enter a sustained and constructive dialogue on the resolution." However, he added that the information disclosed in the March report, "is still deficient in material aspects," particularly whether the global economy can sustain in the long term the high oil prices that oil sands require to be profitable.
"Alberta's oil sands can be an important part of the energy mix," and will continue to be profitable for Shell in the future, said the company's Chairman Jorma Ollila.
Company website: http://www.shell.com
-By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9317; james.herron@dowjones.com
No comments:
Post a Comment