State oil firms risk wasting $400 bln as energy shift speeds up
JULIA PAYNE STATE-OWNED oil companies could squander about $400 billion on investments in the next decade on new oil projects that will struggle to turn a profit as the world shifts away from fossil fuels, a non-governmental organisation said yesterday. The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) estimated national oil companies, or NOCs, would invest $1.9 trillion in the next 10 years with about a fifth of those investments only breaking even if oil prices stay above $40 a barrel. Oil prices have climbed to around $60 this week, after plunging below $20 last year when demand plummeted due to the…