Northern Lights, in which Equinor is a major investor alongside Shell and TotalEnergies, was opend last year
European oil and gas firms refocus hydrogen strategies
Companies reduce spending on hydrogen projects as they struggle to find demand
European majors and IOCs are refocusing their hydrogen strategies around projects that have already reached FID amid a wider pivot from low-carbon projects towards traditional fossil fuel production. BP, Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell are all reducing spending on low-carbon molecules in their capex plans for 2025, citing difficulties in finding customers for hydrogen. Those projects the firms are progressing tend be those focusing on decarbonising their own operations—most frequently refineries—rather than those requiring third-party offtake. BP BP announced on its Capital Markets Day in February that it is planning to cut investments in its transition business to $1.5–2b/yr from more than
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10 December 2025
Project developer Meld Energy ready to accelerate 100MW project in Humber region after securing investment from energy transition arm of private equity firm Schroders Capital
9 December 2025
BP and Engie abandon large-scale green hydrogen projects in Gulf state as developers in all regions continue to struggle with lack of firm offtake
5 December 2025
European Commission highlights rapid growth of Chinese production this year, as it retains strict procurement rules in latest European Hydrogen Bank subsidy auction
2 December 2025
Oil major cites deteriorating demand and a planning debacle as it abandons one of UK’s largest blue hydrogen projects
