Big oil is back and it’s bloody brilliant

The entire climate movement was an event for children - that’s why it was led by one for so long, writes Tim Blair.

Back in the golden days, also known as the 1970s and 1980s, energy giant Esso ran a series of ads celebrating Australian fossil fuels.

These ads were so beautiful that they’d make the likes of Greta Thunberg, Matt Kean and the entire staff of the Guardian weep into their morning bowls of Chris Bowen-endorsed misery flakes.

One showed hard-hatted Esso workers labouring productively on an offshore oil rig. “At this very moment,” read the ad copy, “Esso in a joint venture with BHP is searching in ocean depths of over 1000 metres … more than ever, the search for oil is vital to our future security.”

True then and true now. Nuclear with a side of well-maintained coal power wouldn’t hurt, either.

Another excellent Esso ad contrasted a bare and boring Bass Strait in 1964 with a brilliant Bass Strait in 1984, alive with purposeful industry, construction and exploration.

Let the good times roll again: Oil rig workers board a helicopter at the Longford heliport, East Gippsland, for a flight to an offshore rig in 1985.

“The local oil scene sure has changed a lot over the last 20 years,” the ad declared, appropriately rejoicing in the Strait’s obvious improvement.

Good times, people, good times. But then followed an era of shame, when oil producers allowed themselves to be intimidated by doomy eco-mopes.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg will be weeping with rage at the way the world has betrayed her demented global warming vision. Picture: Anders WIKLUND / TT NEWS AGENCY / AFP) / Sweden OUT

BP capitulated ahead of schedule in 2001, rebranding itself from British Petroleum to the self-hating Beyond Petroleum. Under its perfectly named former CEO Bernard Looney, BP subsequently sought to become a wind turbine titan that by 2050 would achieve net zero sainthood.

Shell also aimed for net zero by 2050. So did Esso and its associated brands. So did Saudi Aramco, the biggest of all big oil businesses.

They were all Greta’s bitches, for a time. But the era of desperately seeking approval from undereducated Swedelings appears to be ending. Big oil is back, baby.

The UK Daily Telegraph reported last week that Beyond Petroleum had transitioned to Bravo Petroleum. “BP has halted all investment into renewable energy as part of a ‘fundamental reset’ of its strategy,” the paper wrote.

“To refocus on fossil fuels, the UK oil giant has said it will sell off ten of its US onshore wind farms ...

“The shift in strategy comes after profits at the company fell from $13.4bn in 2023 to $8.2bn last year ... ‘We have completely decapitalised renewables,’ said chief executive Murray Auchincloss, who added that BP increased oil and gas production by two per cent last year.”

Donald Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill”. / AFP PHOTO / RHONA WISE

Doomsters ain’t pleased. Environmental group Global Witness noted with sadness that BP’s $A17bn fossil fuel investments last year were seven times more than the poxy $A3bn it wasted on renewables and other scams.

“The figures,” Global Witness moaned, “suggest abandonment of the net zero targets the company pledged five years ago.”

Good on them, and good on the rest of the fossil fuel sector for finally breaking free of the madness. It’s an emotional moment, much like Chief Bromden smashing his way out of the asylum in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

A certain elderly fellow who returned to his workplace after Covid deserves some credit for all of this.

One month after President Donald Trump’s re-election last November, the Sydney Morning Herald anxiously reported that “British and European oil companies are refocusing on their traditional oil and gas businesses.

“Where previously they planned to cap or reduce their production, now they are planning and investing to increase it.”

And why wouldn’t they, with the US under Trump set to liberate energy markets and drive fossil fuel growth. Trump last week established something called the National Energy Dominance Council, which besides Bernard Looney is the best name in this column.

“This is a big deal,” Trump said. “We have more energy than any other country, and now we’re unleashing it.”

Sounds great, but before cheering too loudly we must first consider the tremendous forces arrayed against Trump and his big oil mates. The game isn’t over yet.

Sydney will next month host a Climate Action Week starring every carbon-frightened wingding you can imagine, including that Kean bloke, many academics of whom you’ve never heard and Perth puppeteer Simon Holmes a Court.

If the big oil revival resists these powerhouse personalities, Climate Week has forces in reserve: “Over 230 events are already locked in, ranging from keynote addresses to art installations, film premieres, immersive experiences, cooking classes, behind-the-scenes tours, and events for children.”

The entire climate movement was an event for children. That’s why it was led by one for so long.

But the world is now getting back to work. Get those kids out on the rigs and teach them some oilcraft.