Is This A Turning Point For Big Oil? Three oil giants suffered separate blows in one day, marking what one analyst called “the start of a new era” for the industry. FRANCOIS PICARD via Getty Images Blades from wind turbines rotate in a field behind an out-of-use oil pumpjack last month near Eldorado, Texas. Three of the world’s largest oil companies faced a reckoning over climate change Wednesday as shareholder revolts and a landmark court ruling added new pressure to slash emissions. Royal Dutch Shell suffered the first blow, as a civil court in the Netherlands ordered the company to cut its carbon dioxide emissions 45% below 2019 levels by the end of the decade.