Shell gives up 1,000 petrol stations; favours EV charging

Shell plans to give up as many 1,000 retail locations, including petrol stations, this year and next to concentrate more on setting up charging stations for electric vehicles.

“We are upgrading our retail network, with expanded electric vehicle charging and convenience offers, in response to changing customer needs. In total, we plan to divest around 500 Shell-owned sites (including joint ventures) a year in 2024 and 2025.” Shell writes in its new energy transition strategy.

The statement refers to sites worldwide. According to Yahoo Finance, the closures will reduce the company’s retail presence by 2.1 per cent. In 2023, the company operated 47,000 locations.

Shell wants to increase the number of its public charging points to 200,000 by the end of the decade. The majority of Shell’s current 54,000 charging stations are currently located in China, which will be one of the focal points for further expansion. However, Shell will apparently also abandon petrol stations in Europe in favour of charging stations. However, there are no details yet.

While the plan to sell petrol stations is a positive aspect of Shell’s new energy transition strategy from an environmental perspective, there is also criticism. The London-based company has weakened its CO2 reduction targets for the coming decade in the strategy. However, Shell is sticking to its net-zero commitment by 2050.

Previously, TotalEnergies sold its entire petrol station network in Germany and the Netherlands to the Canadian company Couche-Tard.

yahoo.com, bnnbloomberg.ca, shell.com (PDF, p.28)