Shell to focus (more) on biofuels (than wind or solar energy) and raises dividend

Shell to focus on biofuels and raises dividend

Reuters
Tuesday, March 17, 2009

AMSTERDAM: Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, said Tuesday that its alternative-energy strategy would focus more on biofuels than wind or solar energy but revealed that investments in the sector were still only a tiny fraction of its overall business.

Presenting the company's strategy, Shell also said it would raise its dividend payout in 2009 to around $10 billion from $9.8 billion last year.

That came as investors worried that the fall in crude prices since July would press leading oil companies to scale back their generous dividends.

Shell said it has made $1.7 billion in investments in renewable energy and to reduce carbon dioxide emissions over the past five years. That compares with $1.7 trillion in company sales and $126.8 billion in net profit in the 2003-2008 period.

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