EDUCATION
The Ivy League US university that owned an oil company
An investigation by campus organisers claims to have found links between Princeton University and shady oil company Petrotiger.
The intersection of academia and the fossil fuel industry has become a focal point of debate, particularly as universities strive to demonstrate leadership in addressing climate change while balancing funding concerns.
However, it is a surprise that a university would go as far as to own its own oil company with a chequered past.
A study conducted by student researchers at Princeton University has shed light on the university’s financial ties to Petrotiger, an oil and gas company, reportedly named after the university’s mascot. The study indicates that the university has earned tens of millions of dollars over the past decade from its involvement with Petrotiger, including direct contributions and income from investments in its subsidiaries.
The activists highlighted that Princeton received approximately $70 million from fossil fuel companies between 2013 and 2023, alongside over $140 million in revenue from its Petrotiger investment. This financial relationship persists despite the university’s decision in September 2022 to divest from many fossil fuel companies and to dissociate from 90 specific firms.
“Fossil fuel companies are hijacking our universities to perpetuate their own toxic industry, and we students are not having it anymore,” said Will Kattrup, a research lead at Campus Climate Network.
All this is despite claims from Princeton that it is doing its utmost to lessen its environmental impact. Its Climate Action Plan (CAP), adopted in 2019, outlines strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2010 levels by 2030, 65% by 2040, and 80% by 2050. How this ‘plan’ fits in with drilling for oil is anyone’s guess.
The company’s subsidiaries are still listed as a “related organization” to the university, which contineus to own shares in one which generated $22.5 million in 2023.
Edit: reference to another Petrotiger company registered in the Virgin Islands has been removed, as the Petrotiger in question is actually registered in Houston and has no links to the other company.