Texas has added British bank NatWest to its list of financial institutions that boycott the energy industry, meaning any business NatWest may have with state agencies would be affected.
The reason NatWest joined the list was a plan by the bank to stop financing oil and gas projects, a spokesperson for Texas Comptroller Glenn Hager told Reuters.
Per that policy, beginning in 2026, NatWest would "not renew, refinance or extend existing reserve-based lending specifically for the purpose of financing oil and gas exploration, extraction and production."
Texas signaled it was having none of that back in 2022 when Hager compiled a list of financial institutions that were seen as boycotting the energy industry. In retaliation for that boycott, the Comptroller's office banned investments by Texas state agencies in these institutions and prompted them to divest whatever assets they already had in them.
"The environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) movement has produced an opaque and perverse system in which some financial companies no longer make decisions in the best interest of their shareholders or their clients, but instead use their financial clout to push a social and political agenda shrouded in secrecy," Hager said at the time.
Some of the banks that ended up on the blacklist include JP Morgan, BlackRock, HSBC, and Wells Fargo. The banks were quick to reassure the Texas authorities they had nothing against the oil and gas industry and were in fact rather heavily invested in it. This move prompted a backlash from climate activists, putting the banks in the uncomfortable position of having to reassure two irreconcilable camps they have their best interests at heart.
The list of so-called energy boycotters in Texas has been updated several times since 2022. Most of the banks currently on it, according to Bloomberg, are European institutions.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More