Oil & gas industry

To tackle climate change, the oil & gas industry needs to change. We believe it’s our role to work with our clients to support them in their transition towards reaching climate goals. We see our role as facilitating change from the inside, setting strict policies on what we will and won’t finance and helping clients improve their sustainability practices.

When financing the production and processing of oil & gas, we differentiate between extracting oil & gas from the ground (upstream), transportation (midstream), and conversion into fuels (downstream). We started by setting absolute targets for our upstream portfolio, because it will have a knock-on effect throughout the rest of the oil & gas value chain.

Building on the progress made by world leaders at the 2023 COP28 conference and the most recent scientific insights and climate scenarios, we will phase out the financing of upstream oil & gas activities by 2040. This means that by then, our lending to exploration and production of oil & gas will be reduced to zero.

We have set 2030 and 2050 intensity targets for midstream and downstream and are working to expand our approach to include the oil & gas portfolio of our Trade and Commodity Finance business. What this all means is that when it’s done, the entire value chain of the oil & gas sector will be fully covered under our Terra approach.

See our 2024 Climate Progress Update for more insights into how we manage our oil & gas portfolio in line with climate goals, targets set, and how we perform on those targets.

In addition to steering our portfolio, over the past years we have made important policy decisions to help us meet our goals, including stopping the dedicated project financing of new oil & gas fields and restricting the financing of the midstream infrastructure that supports the development of those fields.

Most recently, as of September 2024 we took the next step by stopping all new general financing to pure-play upstream oil & gas companies that continue to open new fields – so, including general corporate financing and bonds. In order to support the energy transition, we will consider providing dedicated finance to renewables or carbon capture and storage projects for these companies.

We also announced a next step on LNG driven by guidance from the International Energy Agency. LNG is natural gas that gets cooled down to liquid to make it easier to transport. We will stop providing new financing for new LNG export terminals after 2025.

Please see below for further details on other restrictions regarding the oil & gas industry.

Shale gas extraction

Natural gas is a relatively clean fossil fuel and ING finances gas extraction. However, there are concerns about certain extraction methods, namely hydraulic fracturing of shale. In the US, shale gas takes a prominent role in the energy mix, accounting for almost 80% of all gas extraction. ING does have clients in the US with shale gas-related activities. Our policy involves enhanced due diligence including specific requirements for clients involved in shale gas extraction. However, in Europe we do not finance the mining, exploration or upgrading of shale gas.

Oil exploration in the Arctic

We recognise the ecological sensitivities of oil exploration in the Arctic. Shipping and drilling activities linked to exploration may disturb marine wildlife. A potential oil spill could have serious consequences for vulnerable marine ecosystems, and there is general concern that additional oil to the market from the Arctic could further impact the climate.

ING finances various clients and activities in the oil & gas industry. However, we do not provide project finance services for Arctic offshore oil exploration. We hold limited indirect exposure to certain activities in the Artic through clients that we finance, such as those supplying equipment used by oil & gas companies, and shipping companies transporting goods and supplies to oil & gas companies.

All our clients, including those providing services to companies operating in the Arctic, must comply with ING’s Environmental & Social Risk policy framework.

Oil sands

Oil sands, also known as tar sands or bituminous sands, are composed of a tar-like substance that is processed into oil.

Processing oil sands is known to be energy intensive, producing significant greenhouse gas emissions, contaminating water, and impacting land through its substantial surface mining activities. This is in addition to potential social impacts, such as on the local indigenous peoples historically using the land.

ING does not engage in transactions that are directly linked to the mining, exploration, transportation, and processing of oil sands. As a result of our policy (in place since December 2012) we won’t finance the following oil pipe projects: TransMountain pipeline, Keystone XL, Energy East, or Line 3.

Oil & gas in Ecuador and Peru

Indigenous people living in the Sacred Headwaters region of the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru have called on banks to stop financing oil development in the region, as it poses a threat to them and the surrounding ecosystem.

ING does not provide dedicated finance to the exploration and production of oil & gas in the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru. We have financed the trading of oil from the region but decided at the beginning of 2021 not to enter into new contracts for exports from Ecuador. In November 2021 we extended this to Peru where we will also not enter into contracts for exports.

We have no financial exposure to oil & gas exploration and production projects in the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru. The Sacred Headwaters region is largely an internationally protected area. ING has a policy framework that prohibits direct engagement in internationally protected areas.

Furthermore, we apply set criteria when financing on-the-ground assets, also regarding Indigenous communities. For example, projects financed under the Equator Principles framework require the ‘free prior and informed consent’ (FPIC) of affected communities if the project has impacts on ancestral land or uses resources within an Indigenous population's territory.

Given that we finance companies that buy and trade oil from the region, and that our policy under the Equator Principles is out of scope as it does not apply to trade finance, we decided to research the concerns expressed by local communities. We are also engaging our clients on the subject. In the meantime, we will not enter into in any new contracts for the financing of Amazon oil & gas trade flows from Ecuador and Peru.

We will continue our monitoring and engagement with existing clients on the topic, in line with our view on positively using leverage (read more in our Human Rights Report).