CSR Report Shows Marathon’s Commitment to Reduce Emissions

August 7th, 2008

With oil companies in the headlines every day and people understanding as little about how the oil business works as they do, I thought I’d read the 2007 Marathon Oil CSR Report and see what an oil company has to say about its environmental stewardship activities. Especially one that has just bought our software. Naturally, we think companies invest in the tools they need for more than just corporate responsibility reporting. Executives are looking to manage the company’s overall business risk and measure its progress toward true sustainability.

Once again, I’m struck by how these reports have changed. This one is full of real data. For oil companies, a principal measure of environmental performance is oil spills, because they have a big impact on the environment. The 2007 report is full of facts and data showing that the company, over a five-year period, has reduced the number and volume of oil spills equal to or greater than one barrel, and reduced both its upstream and downstream spill rates. Marathon also is using a Gas-to-Fuels technology at a demonstration plant built purely to explore the potential for turning natural gas into transportation fuel.

Since 1999, Marathon has invested $450 million in technology to reduce emissions. It’s going to invest another $30 million through 2008 and Q1 2009. In all, capital investments for environmental projects totaled $199 million last year, which was about 4 percent of total capital expenditures. It’s a clear indication that Marathon is committed to address emissions management concerns.

On the Health and Safety side, Marathon has developed metrics for incidents and near misses and leading indicators to track and improve process safety performance. The company is expected to use the data in next year’s CSR report, where there will be better measurements of success.

Eyes glazed over by data? That’s good. Marathon has shown that it’s serious about controlling its emissions, preventing spills and accidents and doing more than just giving lip service to corporate responsibility reporting.

Tags: corporate responsibility environmental stewardship marathon oil oil companies sustainability

Entry Filed under: Operational Risk Management, Sustainability, Corporate Responsibility, EHS Industry, Oil & Gas Industry