Today in the Dutch news: "Shell and Exxon prey on green billions in subsidies". Shell and Exxon want to invest in the large-scale Porthos project to enable CO2 storage under the North Sea. In this way, the oil companies focus on making the oil sector more sustainable. https://twitter.com/FD_Nieuws/status/1328225790123642880

These firms also invest in alternative energy sources, such as large-scale offshore wind farms. The reports together illustrate the current dilemma of various oil firms: trying to preserve the traditional oil regime or investing in sustainable alternatives? https://nos.nl/artikel/2342236-shell-en-eneco-bouwen-groot-windmolenpark-op-de-noordzee.html

This seems not to be the first time that such a discussion took place. Already in the 1970s, oil firms invested heavily in alternative energy sources. E.g. the promise of nuclear energy: "Gulf Oil and Shell together in Nuclear Energy" (Volkskrant, June 5, 1973)

Were these discussions and investments substantial? Although later policies seem to point to the decision to focus entirely on oil, the investments were of such magnitude that there had to be at least a clear policy choice behind them in order to invest and later (partly) to quit

I will investigate these (and more) questions in the next years as part of the Managing Scarcity Project of @ccmmody. Focussing on the (dis)engagement of oil firms in the development of nuclear energy in a period of major questions about the sustainability of fossil fuels