As oil prices climbed to a new record yesterday, nearing $115US a barrel, international investors were targeting the annual shareholders' meetings of such companies as BP PLC,
Linking BP PLC,News, and Chevron Corp. to convey their "disappointment" with their Canadian oilsands strategies because of their negative environmental impact.
At today's BP PLC
meeting in London, a coalition of 11 U.K. and U.S. investors, including Boston Common Asset Management, is planning to read a statement calling the British major's move into the oilsands last December a "disturbing step backwards.
"We do not wish to see the benefits of BP's leadership as a renewable energy innovator being offset by the harsh environmental impacts unleashed by the tar sands," the group said it would tell BP, according to a news release circulated yesterday.
Meanwhile, Trillium Asset Management, also of Boston, is urging shareholders of Houston-based ConocoPhillips
to support a proposal at the firm's AGM on May 14 that ' board of directors prepare a report on the expected environmental damage from expanding its oilsands operations and looking into the implications of discontinuing the expansions.
Green Century Capital Management, also of Boston, is urging Chevron shareholders to support a similar proposal when they convene for the San Ramon, Calif.-based company's annual meeting on May 28.
The moves are the latest tactics in a growing international backlash by "socially responsible" groups against Alberta's deposits that has also involved public-relations campaigns and legal challenges.
International companies have increased their oilsands presence in recent years because of reduced access to other oil-rich areas and insufficient discoveries to keep up with growing oil demand.
Meanwhile, oil prices settled yesterday at $114US.93 a barrel in New York, up $1US.14, on an unexpected decline in U.S. crude inventories. Canada is the leading supplier of oil to the United States.
'Technology is not there right now'
None of the Canadian companies involved in oilsands extraction appear to be facing similar shareholder concerns. The industry's annual meeting season kicks off on Tuesday, when Husky Energy Inc.
shareholders convene in Calgary and EnCana Inc.'s shareholders meet in Toronto.
BP senior vice-president Roddy Kennedy had no comment on the group's statement.
"It's standard practice for activists of one kind or another."
ConocoPhillips
is urging its shareholders to vote against Trillium's proposal, he said.
"The company is confident that it can simultaneously protect the environment and develop oil and gas reserves in areas like the Canadian oilsands region," it said in its proxy statement.
Chevron says the Green Century proposal asks for information that is already available. It, too, is urging shareholders to vote against it.
"The Athabasca and Ells River oilsands projects represent significant opportunities for reaching an important energy source now and for many years to come," spokesman Don Campbell said.
Lauren Compere, director of shareholder advocacy at Boston Common, with $1-billion under management including 354,000 BP shares, said her firm is targeting BP because it believes the company is moving in the wrong direction.
"The technology is not there right now to extract oilsands without a lot of environmental impacts," she said.
The oilsands are increasingly seen as "socially irresponsible" investments, she said, arguing the industry should refocus and invest more into renewable energy, such as solar and wind power and biofuels, she said.
Shelley Alpern, director of social research and advocacy at Trillium, with $1-billion under management including a small position in ConocoPhillips, said her firm is not calling for a shutdown of the oilsands.
"Here is a region where if there is enough collective will, perhaps it can be done properly," she said. "What we are saying is that we want companies that we are invested in to do it with a heightened awareness of the environmental impact and to be accountable to the public and the shareholders."National Post's Financial Post & FP Investing
