Big Oil to Face Pressure During Shareholder Meetings Not to Destroy the Arctic Refuge

As Exxon and Chevron face shareholders tomorrow for their annual general meetings, they will face pressure from shareholders and activists to rule out drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Both oil majors will hold their virtual annual general meetings this Wednesday, as the Trump administration continues to push ahead with plans to hold a lease sale in the delicate coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge despite the recent crash in oil prices. The companies will face questions from shareholders about their plans for the Arctic, as well as targeted social media and digital ad campaigns urging them to rule out leasing in the coastal plain.

With recent announcements from Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, five of the six largest banks in the US, as well as more than a dozen global banks, have now committed not to fund new drilling in the Arctic.

“Between the instability of the oil market, the growing movement among financial institutions away from Arctic drilling, and the lack of data about how much oil is even there, any oil company interested in drilling in the Arctic Refuge will be hard pressed to explain to their shareholders how that makes financial sense,” said Sierra Club campaign representative Ben Cushing. “Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would be a disaster for our climate and for the human rights of the Gwich’in Nation, and it’s clearer than ever that it would also be a bad business decision for any company foolish enough to pursue it. Even though we can’t be there to make our case in person this year, that won’t stop us from standing with the Gwich’in and demanding that Exxon and Chevron stay out of the Arctic Refuge.”