Shell and other leading energy groups have abandoned a six-year-long attempt to define a “net zero” emissions strategy after being told that such a standard would require them to stop developing new oil and gas fields, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.

Shell, Norway’s Aker BP and Canada’s Enbridge have all quit the expert advisory group of the global corporate climate standard-setting body, the Science Based Targets initiative, since late last year.

This followed the circulation of draft standards seen by the FT stipulating that companies should not develop “new oil and gas fields” once they had submitted a climate plan to the SBTi, or the end of 2027, whichever was sooner. It also said that production of oil and gas should fall significantly.