To keep the Sustainable Development Report current, key performance metrics are updated every year. All reported HSE data are based on operated assets only. Environmental data are represented as 100 percent ownership interest regardless of actual share owned by ConocoPhillips. For more information on how these metrics are tabulated, see HSE Data Assumptions.
Note: On April 30, 2012, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) spun off its downstream business to its shareholders through a new stand-alone publicly traded company, Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). As this Sustainable Development Report summarizes performance information for the 2011 calendar year when the upstream and downstream businesses remained integrated in COP, this performance metrics section of the report includes discussion of strategies, risks, opportunities and emissions associated with the previously combined upstream and downstream company prior to the spin-off.
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Air EmissionsClimate Change and Energy EfficiencyMaterial EfficiencySafetySpillsWaterPolitical ContributionsCommunityEmployeesData Tables
Air Emissions
Work continues on reducing air emissions from our operations. We track emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), as well as GHG emissions reported in the next section. The emissions reported here are for the integrated company. These emissions are defined as:
SOx are gases produced during the combustion of fuels that contain sulfur compounds.
NOx are the sum of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. NOx emissions occur almost exclusively from the combustion of fossil fuels in boilers, heaters, engines, flares, turbines and fluid catalytic cracking units.
PM is a collection of very small suspended particles emitted from combustion of fossil fuels and other activities.
VOC emissions are hydrocarbons associated with natural gas and crude oil and represent lost product when released.
For more information on our approach to clean air, please see the Environment section of this report.
Sulfur Oxides (SOx)
Overall, the SOx emissions in 2011 from our company-operated assets were about 19,500 tonnes, a decrease of 15 percent or about 3,500 tonnes from 2010. Global Refining normalized SOx emissions declined 13 percent in 2011. Upstream normalized SOx emissions also decreased 13 percent. Additional reductions were from disposition of a power plant late in 2010. The company has made steady and substantial annual progress, reducing 2011 SOx emissions about 62 percent below 2007 levels, primarily by adding new refinery emission control systems.
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)
NOx emissions in 2011 were about 150,000 tonnes, an increase of 26 percent or about 31,000 tonnes from 2010. Upstream increased NOx emissions about 37 percent from 2010, due to significantly increased development activity in the Lower 48. Downstream reduced NOx emissions about 3,100 tonnes, or 11 percent, primarily from fuel economy improvements of the marine fleet and the addition of refinery controls.
Particulate Matter (PM)
PM emissions in 2011 were about 6,700 tonnes, an increase of about 4 percent or 226 tonnes from 2010. The increase was primarily from greater refinery emissions due to winter storm events and improved scope of reporting, partly offset by a reduction of 1 percent in Upstream.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
VOC emissions in 2011 were approximately 133,000 tonnes, a decrease of 2 percent or about 3,000 tonnes from 2010. About 83 percent of the 2011 VOC emissions were from Upstream operations.
Upstream decreased VOC emissions about 1,800 tonnes in 2011. Inclusion of additional sources by some units was more than offset by implementing a VOC recovery plant to reduce emissions from ship loading, an improved calculation methodology and outage of a field. Lower Downstream emissions of about 1,200 tonnes were due to improved fuel efficiency of the marine fleet and disposition of the Wilhelmshaven refinery.
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Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Consistent with our position on climate change, we track data for greenhouse gas emissions, flaring, and energy. Our most recent CDP submission can be found at COP 2012 CDP Response.
For additional information on our approach to addressing climate change issues and concerns, please see the Climate Change section.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
In 2011 total CO2 equivalent GHG emissions for the integrated company were approximately 66.0 million tonnes. This represents a decrease of 4 percent or 2.7 million tonnes from 2010. The decrease is largely attributed to divestment of a commercial power plant for which 12 months of operation were included in 2010 with CO2 emissions of 1.8 million tonnes.
Downstream decreased GHG emissions by about 1.3 million tonnes (3 percent) from full year of divestment of the Wilhelmshaven Refinery, shutdown of the Trainer Refinery in the fourth quarter of 2011 and decreases at the Lake Charles Refinery. These significant emission reductions against slightly lower production volume resulted in reduced GHG emissions per unit.
Upstream slightly increased 2011 GHG emissions by 0.3 million tonnes (1 percent) above 2010 levels, primarily due to significantly increased development activity in the Lower 48, mostly offset by reductions in other operations. This modest increase in emissions against reduced production volume resulted in increased GHG emissions per unit.
Click on the following link to learn about our work to reduce GHG emissions.
Flaring
Flaring is a safety measure that burns excess gases that might otherwise pose a hazard. For example, refining units use flares to maintain safe operating pressures during abnormal operating conditions. Most flaring in our Exploration and Production operations comes from burning excess natural gas that cannot be recovered for export to consumers, used as fuel within the field, or cost-effectively re-injected into the producing formation.
Approximately 78 percent of the total flaring occurs in Upstream, with about 20 percent attributable to Global Refining and another 2 percent in our other business segments. In 2011 the company's total flaring volume was 39.3 BCF, a decrease of 9 percent from 2010. The decrease is primarily related to significantly less flaring in Asia Pacific due to a field outage, partly offset by development activities in the Lower 48. In China, a new pipeline to transport gas production previously flared was installed in late 2011.
Click on the following link to learn about our work to reduce emissions and flaring.
Energy Consumption
Total energy consumption in 2011 was approximately 845 trillion British Thermal Units (BTUs), an increase of 1 percent or 12 trillion BTUs from 2010. Of the 2011 consumption, about 92 percent was from combustion and about 8 percent was from purchased electricity and steam.
We continually strive to make our operations more energy efficient. This provides an economic benefit through lower production costs, as well as an environmental benefit from reduced GHG emissions.
For more information see the Energy Efficiency section of this report.
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Being good stewards of the environment includes setting standards for waste management, minimization and decommissioning. We seek to identify new and better ways to diminish our environmental footprint and social impacts by becoming more efficient about our use of materials in the workplace and in the communities in which we operate. This work also reduces the costs of purchasing and handling materials, which improves productivity.
Waste Management
In 2011 ConocoPhillips increased the amount of hazardous waste generated by 2,786 tonnes, or 5 percent, to a total of 64,122 tonnes. During that period, Upstream increased hazardous waste 9,600 tonnes while Downstream decreased the amount of hazardous waste generated by 6,500 tonnes. The volume of our waste generated varies from year to year due to the cyclical maintenance operations and plant shut downs.
For more information see the Material Efficiency section of this report.
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Safety
We strive to complete each day without any injuries, illnesses or incidents in our workplaces. We have made substantial progress toward our goal of zero incidents in our operations. However, we recognize that our safety performance must improve further and understand that this will require full employee involvement and commitment. Our internal programs are designed to improve safety performance by stimulating leadership at all levels of the organization and ultimately forming one inclusive team of employees and contractors.
2010 was our safest year to date and the seventh consecutive year of improvement for our workforce. In 2011 we equaled that performance. Since 2007 the employees and contractors that make up the company's global workforce improved our safety performance 50 percent – decreasing injuries per 100 workers (Total Recordable Rate or TRR) from 0.62 in 2007 to 0.31 in 2011. About one in five injuries were serious enough that the worker had to lose time from work (Lost Workday Case or LWC).
For more information see the Safety & Occupational Health section of this report.
Total Recordable Rate (TRR)
Lost Workday Case (LWC)
For more information see the Safety section and 2011 Data Tables
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Spills
We respond to spills as soon as they are discovered. While all spills are considered serious, those greater than 100 barrels are defined as significant incidents and trigger immediate reporting to management, as well as extensive investigation and corrective action. In 2011 there were 10 such significant spills, the same as in 2010.
We have made continuous progress eliminating the number of spills greater than one barrel of liquid hydrocarbons, with 34 percent fewer in 2011 than in 2007. The trend has also been improving in the number of significant spills, with the 2011 total 58 percent lower than in 2007. The volume of hydrocarbon spilled has been more variable, particularly in 2008, when approximately 75 percent of all spill volume occurred in a single pipeline failure incident in the U.S.
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Water
In 2011 ConocoPhillips-operated assets withdrew 285 million cubic meters of fresh water companywide, of which 96 percent was by Downstream operations. In 2011 water withdrawal was reduced nearly 10 million cubic meters, or 3 percent. Prior to discharging water, ConocoPhillips is committed to ensure all relevant regulations and permit conditions are met. At our operated assets, we discharged 238 million cubic meters of water.
Because water treatment does not remove all traces of hydrocarbon, ConocoPhillips also monitors the quantity of hydrocarbons discharged with produced water. In compliance with regulations and local permits, we released 637 tonnes of hydrocarbons in produced water discharged in 2011. Between 2008 and 2011, the company has achieved significant reduction of the hydrocarbon volume discharged due to water treatment improvements in Norway, the UK and Indonesia, as well as from the transfer of field ownership of former ConocoPhillips property, and refinery dispositions.
For more information on our approach, see the Clean Water section of this report.
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Political Contributions
All political contributions are reported twice a year to the compliance and ethics committee. Further details including two lists of these contributions can be found in our position on political policies, procedures and giving.
Community
We measure both our contribution to the global economy and charitable donations.
For more information, please see the Communities section.
Contributing to the Global Economy
Our global operations contribute substantially to social and economic development in the communities in which we operate. For example, our direct economic contributions during 2011 as an integrated company included:
Jobs – ConocoPhillips employed approximately 29,800 people around the world.
Taxes – Our continuing operations generated $14.9 billion in total tax revenue to governments, excluding royalties to government entities.
Shareholder dividends – ConocoPhillips common stock paid $3.6 billion in cash dividends.
Capital investments – ConocoPhillips reinvested $14.0 billion in its capital program to find and develop new energy supplies and deliver clean petroleum products to customers.
Payments to various vendors and suppliers for products and services:
Philanthropic Contributions
ConocoPhillips has a long tradition of investing in the communities in which we operate. During 2011, our charitable contributions totaled approximately $65 million.
For more information see the Community Investment section of this report.
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Employees
Employment
As an integrated company at the end of 2011, we employed 29,800 people worldwide, compared with 29,700 in 2010.
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Diversity and Inclusion
| 2011 Global Diversity |
|
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Leadership |
All Employees |
| Women |
14.3% |
23.8% |
| Non-U.S. Employees |
13.5% |
32.9% | |