The Strategist

The Rockefellers Gave Up On Hydrocarbons



03/24/2016 - 14:59



Rockefeller Family Foundation announced its withdrawal from assets associated with hydrocarbon production and processing. According to the Fund’s opinion, when the whole world is trying to reduce use of hydrocarbons, investments in this sector are reasonable neither ethically nor from the financial point of view.



by Brian Katt
by Brian Katt
In the statement, Rockefeller Family Fund declared that the Fund intends to get rid of assets related to hydrocarbons as soon as possible. "While the international community is actively working to rid of the use of hydrocarbons, there is not much sense - both financially and ethically - to preserve investments in such business. For companies, it makes no sense to continue exploration of new sources of hydrocarbons ... Rather than do this, you need to keep the existing stocks." The Fund said that has already sent relevant instructions to its advisors and managers, asking them to sell assets in the American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, as well as in all companies involved in coal mining and production of oil, including bitumen.

Rockefeller Foundation also blamed ExxonMobil for that "from the 1980s, the company was trying to mislead the public about climate change and spent millions on the development of its infrastructure, thus making destructive contribution to the situation on climate change ... The relevant state bodies will determine the extent to which the company's actions comply with the law, but we believe that we can no longer be associated with a company that has demonstrated such a clear disrespect to the public interest."

The Fund belongs to heirs of John D. Rockefeller, one of the founder of Standard Oil Oil Company, part of which became basis for the current ExxonMobil after the original company’s division forced by the Supreme Court and the Congress in 1911. The Fund has publicly called on the oil company to actively develop alternative energy for quite a long time. An open letter corresponding to the situation was published back in April 2008. In late 2014, another Rockefeller heirs’ fund - Rockefeller Brothers Fund – also withdrew from the hydrocarbon assets. As we know, stocks of energy companies fell markedly in prices after the oil decline. In particular, ExxonMobil’s shares fell in price by 20%, Royal Dutch Shell - 40%, and the companies themselves have reported a significant fall of the profit or even loss.

source: reuters.com




More
< >

Tuesday, March 19th 2024 - 02:05 Commodity traders earn $100bln in 2023