Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) may be reporting its financial results next week, but its AGM in a couple of months is already in focus. The Woodside share price is trading at $26.51 today, a slight fall of 0.04%.
In comparison, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is sliding 0.65% today.
Let's take a look at what might impact the AGM.
Climate debate heating up
Woodside is set to face off against some of its investors at its annual general meeting. This meeting will likely be held in April.
Shareholder activist group Market Forces says it has worked with shareholders at both Woodside and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) to call on the companies to reduce production in line with net-zero emissions by 2050.
The group says the action follows 19% of Woodside shareholders and 13% of Santos shareholders voting for the companies to scale back production at last year's AGM.
Market forces asset management campaigner Will van de Pol said:
The need for these resolutions has only increased over the past year, with both companies pursuing mergers to drastically increase their oil and gas production capacity, and moving ahead with billions of dollars worth of new projects that are incompatible with the Paris Agreement's climate goals and International Energy Agency's Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario.
Woodside and Santos have not only rejected investors' demands for alignment with global climate goals, they've actually moved in the complete opposite direction.
However, Woodside publicly states on its website it is aiming for net-zero by 2050. In its fourth-quarter report, released on 20 January, Woodside highlighted its plans to invest $5 billion in new energy products and lower-carbon services by 2030. CEO Meg O'Neill stated:
This significant investment will position Woodside as an early mover in the new energy market and support the decarbonisation goals of our customers.
Yet Market Forces remains skeptical of the operational emissions targets set by Woodside and Santos.
It says: "Both Woodside and Santos claim to support the Paris Agreement's climate goals … Yet the vast majority of these companies' emissions – those generated when their oil and gas is burned – is not covered by their targets, allowing them to continue undermining the Paris goals by increasing production."
Woodside is due to report its full-year results next week on Thursday, 17 February.
Woodside share price snapshot
The Woodside share price is up 5% over the past year and more than 20% year to date. It has gained nearly 14% in the past month but has climbed 2% in the past week.
For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has returned roughly 5% over the past year.
Woodside has a market capitalisation of about $25.6 billion based on the current share price.
