OIL GIANTS should split into separate smaller companies in a bid to boost investment into the world's renewable energy transition, the former boss of BP has said.

Both Shell and BP have said that they are stronger as whole companies, so they can use their oil winnings to invest in greener options.

However, Lord Browne, who helmed BP from 1995 to 2007, said that oil and gas producers need to step up on the road to net zero by "separating low and zero-carbon activity from their fossil-fuel business".

"The former is rapidly growing, less capital intensive and valued at a premium by investors, whereas the business of hydrocarbons is capital intensive, unloved by the market and in decline," he wrote in Time magazine.

Browne added that the move would help unlock how much low-carbon businesses are actually worth.

His comments come as Shell continues to bat off calls from activist investor Third Point to break up.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper