Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell company, speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia June 21, 2017. Sergei Karpukhin LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s oil consumption could peak as early as the end of the next decade as electric vehicles become more popular, Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said on Thursday. The prospect of a decline in oil consumption after more than a century of growth as the world switches to burning cleaner fuels is gathering pace. On Wednesday Britain announced plans to ban diesel and gasoline vehicles by 2040, following a similar move by France. “I think they are very welcome announcements, they are also very needed announcements,” van Beurden told reporters after Europe’s biggest oil company reported a sharp rise in quarterly profits. Under the Anglo-Dutch company’s most aggressive scenario of battery-powered vehicles replacing traditional internal […]