Shelling Out?

Uncontent with its record billions of profits, oil giant Shell argues it must have financial encouragement to look for further oil and gas reserves in the North Sea. Shell's 'logic' is based on :- a) the 'fact' that the UK will need some oil and gas for the foreseeable future and b) the suggestion that it is better to obtain these petrochemicals 'locally', rather than import them (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/02/shell-profits-2022-surging-oil-prices-gas-ukraine). Shell's logic is very suspect. Continuing to extract oil and gas, rather than 'leaving it in the ground', just encourages continued use of fossil fuels. It also takes more than 20 years for new oil and gas reserves to 'come on line'. There is no certainty that oil and gas extracted in the North Sea, will all be sold 'locally'. The entire world needs to be 'weaned off' fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Shell is intent on avoiding as much UK 'windfall' tax as possible. Shell's costs of exploration and decommissioning are actually used to reduce the company's UK tax liability. As 95% of the oil giant's extractions occur outside the UK, it would be interesting to see how many other countries effectively pay Shell to prospect for hydrocarbons and to clean up after themselves. More of Shell's enormous profits could be used to develop 'green' industries, rather than being spent on 'greenwashing' and rewards for shareholders.