BP 2014 Annual Report Download - page 47

Greenhouse gas emissions (MteCO2e)
2014 2013 2012
Operational controla
Direct emissions 54.1 ––
Indirect emissions 7.2 ––
BP equity shareb
Direct emissions 48.6 50.3c59.8
Indirect emissions 6.6 6.6 8.4
a Operational control data comprises 100% of emissions from activities that are operated by BP,
going beyond the IPIECA guidelines by including emissions from certain other activities such as
contracted drilling activities. Data for emissions on an operational control basis was not available
prior to 2014.
b BP equity share comprises our share of BP’s consolidated entities and equity-accounted entities,
other than BP’s share of TNK-BP and Rosneft. Rosneft’s emissions data can be found on its
website.
c The reported 2013 figure of 49.2 MteCO2e has been amended to 50.3 MteCO2e.
The decrease in our GHG emissions is primarily due to the sale of our
Carson and Texas City refineries in the US as part of our divestment
programme. See bp.com/greenhousegas for more information about our
GHG emissions from upstream production, refining throughput and
chemicals produced.
Intensity
In 2014 we changed the intensity ratio we report on from a financial to a
production-based one. The ratio of our total GHG emissions reported on
an operational control-based boundary to gross production was
0.25teCO2e/te production in 2014. Gross production comprises upstream
production, refining throughput and petrochemicals produced.
In 2013 we reported the ratio of our total GHG emissions on a BP
equity-share basis to adjusted revenue of those entities or share of
entities included in GHG reporting. This was 0.15kte/$million. Adjusted
revenue reflects total revenues and other income, less gains on sales of
businesses and fixed assets.
Greenhouse gas regulation
GHG regulation is increasing globally. For example, we are seeing the
growth of emission pricing schemes in Europe, California and China,
additional monitoring regulations in the US and increased focus on
reducing flaring and methane emissions in many jurisdictions.
We expect that GHG regulation will have an increasing impact on our
businesses, operating costs and strategic planning, but may also offer
opportunities for the development of lower-carbon technologies and
businesses.
Accordingly, we require larger projects, and those for which emissions
costs would be a material part of the project, to apply a standard carbon
cost to the projected GHG emissions over the life of the project. In
industrialized countries, our standard cost assumption is currently $40 per
tonne of CO2 equivalent. We use this cost as a basis for assessing the
economic value of the investment and as one consideration in optimizing
the way the project is engineered with respect to GHG emissions.
See page 225 for information on other environmental regulations.
Water
BP recognizes the importance of managing fresh water use and water
discharges effectively in our operations and evaluates risks, including
water scarcity, wastewater disposal and the long-term social and
environmental pressures on local water resources.
We have invested in a specialist water treatment company to support
operations in areas of water scarcity. The company manufactures
desalinization and brine management systems and we aim to trial these
technologies at our operations.
Unconventional gas and hydraulic fracturing
Natural gas resources, including unconventional gas, have an increasingly
important role in meeting the world’s growing energy needs. New
technologies are making it possible to extract unconventional gas
resources safely, responsibly and economically. BP has unconventional
gas operations in Algeria, Indonesia, Oman and the US.
Some stakeholders have raised concerns about the potential
environmental and community impacts of hydraulic fracturing.
BP seeks to apply responsible well design and construction, surface
operation and fluid handling practices to mitigate these risks.
Water and sand constitute on average 99.5% of the injection material
used in hydraulic fracturing. Some of the chemicals that are added to this
when used in certain concentrations, are classified as hazardous by the
relevant regulatory authorities. BP works with service providers to
minimize their use where possible. We list the chemicals we use in the
fracturing process in material safety data sheets at each site. We also
submit data on chemicals used at our hydraulically fractured wells in the
US, to the extent allowed by our suppliers who own the chemical
formulas, at fracfocus.org or other state-designated websites.
We aim to minimize air pollutant and GHG emissions, such as methane, at
our operating sites. For example, we use a process called green
completions at the majority of our gas operations in the US. This process,
which we have been using since 2001, captures natural gas that would
otherwise be flared or vented during the completion and commissioning
of wells.
Our US Lower 48 onshore business’s approach is to operate in line with
industry standards developed within the context of the highly regulated
US environment.
See bp.com/unconventionalgas for information about our approach to
unconventional gas and hydraulic fracturing.
Canada’s oil sands
BP is involved in three oil sands lease areas in Canada. Sunrise Phase 1,
operated by Husky Energy, started up at the end of 2014 and we expect
first oil to be recovered in the first quarter of 2015. Pike Phase 1, operated
by Devon Energy, was granted regulatory approval in November 2014 and
is at the design and planning stage. Terre de Grace, which is BP-operated,
is currently under appraisal for development.
Our decision to invest in Canadian oil sands projects takes into
consideration GHG emissions, impacts on land, water use, local
communities and commercial viability. Projects are managed through
governance committees, with equal representation from BP and our
partners, and approval rights laid out in agreements with our partners.
See bp.com/oilsands for information on BP’s investments in Canada’s
oil sands.
Human rights
We are committed to conducting our business in a manner that respects
the rights and dignity of all people. We respect internationally recognized
human rights, as set out in the International Bill of Human Rights and the
International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles
and Rights at Work. We set out our commitments in our human rights
policy. Our code of conduct references the policy, requiring employees to
report any human rights abuse in our operations or in those of our
business partners.
We are delivering our human rights policy by implementing the relevant
sections of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights and incorporating them into the processes and policies that govern
our business activities. Our action plan aims to achieve closer alignment
with the UN Guiding Principles over a number of years using a risk-based
approach. Representatives from key functions, including human
resources, ethics and compliance, procurement, security, and safety and
operational risk oversee the plan’s implementation.
In 2014 our actions included:
 Human rights training events for more than 270 people, including
awareness training for relevant senior leadership teams and
representatives from functions such as procurement, shipping, finance
and legal.
 The inclusion of human rights clauses in a number of our standard model
contracts.
 Participation in the work of oil and gas industry organization IPIECA on
developing shared industry approaches to managing human rights risks in
the supply chain and guidance on responding to community grievances.
 Continued implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and
Human Rights, with periodic internal assessments to identify areas for
improvement.
★ Defined on page 252. BP Annual Report and Form 20-F 2014
Strategic report
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