Shell is still looking to invest in the UK Continental Shelf, despite its recent decision to walk away from the Cambo project.
The energy giant's chief executive, Ben van Beurden, made the comments yesterday after the firm announced that it made a £14.3bn profit in 2021 amid rising gas prices.
He reiterated that the company plans to use the profits it makes from oil and gas production in areas such as the North Sea to invest in supporting the transition to a lower carbon energy system.
New investment
The company recently pulled out of plans to develop the Cambo oil field off the Shetland islands, which had become a lightning rod for anti-fossil fuel campaigners.
Shell still has several fields off UK waters and Mr Van Beurden said: "I think we still want to continue to invest in the UK Continental Shelf, particularly in gas projects that will help alleviate pressures in the near and mid-term.
"There is actually quite a funnel of good gas projects that we want to develop. And of course we are looking for the favourable fiscal environment to make these investments sensible."
Shell is also investing billions in renewables and recently, alongside ScottishPower secured joint offers for seabed rights to develop large-scale floating wind farms as part of Crown Estate Scotland’s ScotWind leasing. The partners have won two sites representing a total of 5 gigawatts (GW) off the east and north-east coast of Scotland.
Windfall tax
Global gas supply shortages have triggered price rises around the world including a four-fold increase in the wholesale price in Britain which looks set to continue for months.
The profits announced by Shell resulted in renewed calls for a windfall tax on North Sea profits, which Mr van Beurden said was unlikely to ease the problems caused by lofty gas prices.
And speaking in January, he said the issue was due to governments focussing on cutting fossil fuel production, but not demand.
"The natural gas prices we are seeing today in north-west Europe are at the extreme of volatility," he said.
"I hope market conditions will improve and offer some relief and stability to consumers. But it will take intelligent policies and intelligent application of these policies to get it right.
"Some governments in north-west Europe have reduced domestic production of natural gas significantly, but demand remains high. That cannot be fixed in the short term by increasing domestic production because it is impossible to ramp back up quickly. It will probably take imports of natural gas, and the higher prices needed to attract those imports, to fill the gaps in supply.
"In the future, I hope that countries will not unnecessarily reduce the supply of domestic oil and gas that they need. Governments also need to learn from this moment and tackle the demand for hydrocarbons as much as they have so far wanted to tackle the supply of hydrocarbons. Today, motorists still need fuel for their cars, and many homeowners need natural gas for cooking and heating, for example."