By Michael Ives
Annual document tackles the energy transition and environmental impacts while working to grow societal value and ensuring safety and development for our people.
On June 15, Aramco released its second Sustainability Report, providing an overview of how the company has integrated sustainability within its corporate strategy and operations; the material sustainability issues that impact the business and stakeholders; and a summary of key initiatives and sustainability performance during 2022.
The report is an important public document that stakeholders, particularly investors, may rely on to understand our ambitions, and progress across environmental, social, and governance parameters.
Click Here for a copy of the full report.
Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan
Introducing the report, Aramco’s chairman HE Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan articulated Aramco’s perspective: “When we talk about sustainability at Aramco, we understand that it is about balancing the economic benefits to our owners, the social value and utility that our activities and products generate for customers and consumers, and minimizing any negative environmental and social impacts, to build something that will last: a company that will still be standing strong, generations from now.”
Amin Nasser
Aramco’s president and CEO Amin Nasser noted in his introduction to the report that, over 2022, Aramco has strengthened its unique and central role in providing the world the reliable energy it requires for an orderly energy transition.
He also observed a shift in perspective that has taken place over the past year.
“Over the last year, there has been increasing acceptance of the fact that there needs to be a better balance between maintaining energy security, energy affordability, and environmental sustainability.”
— Amin Nasser
In relation to Aramco, Nasser said: “In 2022, we made significant progress on interim targets toward our net zero ambition … with a focus on innovation and technology to maintain our leadership position as one of the lowest average upstream carbon intensive producers in the world … we have also made significant strides in increasing diversity in the workplace, employing more women and people with disabilities.”
Our commitment to biodiversity.
Nasser went on to note that Aramco continues to make significant progress in the key areas of biodiversity, localization of supply chains, and more.
“These improvements are a direct result of the talented people who work for Aramco, and credit goes to them for their commitment, passion, and drive to succeed,” he said.
Among the reports four focus areas is growing societal value, which is reflective in a more diverse workforce.
Four Focus Areas
The report sets out the four focus areas that hold the greatest potential for our business to make long-term, positive impacts. Each of these focus areas support Aramco’s strategic themes, and align with both Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.
- Climate change and the energy transition.
- Safe operations and people development.
- Minimizing environmental impact.
- Growing societal value.
Highlights in 2022 include
Climate Change and the Energy Transition
- Committed to build one of the world's largest CCS hubs (capacity target of 11 MMtpa by 2035)
- Established a $1.5 billion Sustainability Fund to invest in technology to address climate challenges
- An ambition to reduce our emissions by -52 MMtCo2e and lower our upstream carbon intensity by 15% by 2035
- Delivered an upstream methane intensity of .05%, well below the OGCI ambition (.20% by 2025)
- Participated, and purchased credits, in the first carbon credit auction through the Regional Voluntary Carbon Market.
Safe Operations and People Development
- 28% of direct hires were female
- 50% of enrollment in Aramco's college preparatory programs were female
- 23% increase in female employees in leadership positions
- 26% increase in apprentices (1,728 in 2022 compared to 1,369 in 2021)
- 66% increase in interns (3,190 in 2022 compared to 1,922 in 2021)
- Conducted more than 1,100 exercises for emergency preparedness.
Minimizing Environmental Impact
- Launching refurbishments and recycling programs for material streams and equipment
- More than 20 initiatives incorporating circular economy principles
- Ambition to deliver net positive biodiversity and ecosystem impacts
- Continued investments in tail gas treatment facilities
- ISO 14001 certification for 98% of applicable facilities in 2022, with a view to complete coverage in 2023
- Pursuing a water neutrality strategy
- Planted 11 million mangroves and an additional 1 million trees.
Growing Societal Value
- Aramco entered into more than 90 agreements with an estimated value of $17.3 billion to build long-term collaborative relationships with strategic local suppliers
- Via our investments, encouraged suppliers to have an aggregate investment of more than $600 million in capital expenditure, which also created more than 4,000 jobs in our supply chain in Saudi Arabia
- Via iktva, facilitated creation of 31 new local manufacturers
- Spent $370 million on a range of global socio-economic and environmental initiatives.
The report details how Aramco’s climate strategy is framed by the context of a global energy transition that is a complex and multidimensional challenge.
Supporting the Global Energy Transition Toward a Lower Carbon Emissions Future
The report shows how Aramco plans to reduce the net greenhouse gas emissions of its operations and support the global energy transition through development of lower carbon products and solutions across the energy, chemicals, and materials sectors.
The report includes the creation of our $1.5 billion sustainability investment fund, through Aramco Ventures
This includes the creation of our $1.5 billion sustainability investment fund, through Aramco Ventures, to accelerate the company’s progress toward developing and using innovative solutions to address the climate challenge.
The report details how Aramco’s climate strategy is framed by the context of a global energy transition that is a complex and multidimensional challenge: It will not be uniform across all regions; and accomplishing transition around the world will entail enormous amounts of capital, giving rise to affordability issues.
Aramco has established the Ghawar Intelligence Center. This has enabled deployment of more than 300 Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies across safety, environment, health, and corrosion, including drones taking preprogrammed routes within the facility.
Aramco’s leadership position among the lowest cost and lowest upstream carbon intensity producers is a differentiator: Advanced and more sustainable practices in oil field development and operational management, as well as gas management, combined with necessary investments, have resulted in Aramco delivering levels of upstream carbon intensity, methane intensity, and gas flaring, among the lowest in the world.
The report details how we have achieved this and our plans to maintain and enhance these efforts — and ultimately achieve our net zero ambition by 2050.
Supporting Employees and Communities
Importantly, the report is not only about our efforts in reducing our carbon footprint and emissions; it also outlines the important role we play in supporting our employees by delivering safe, healthy, and rewarding work, the role we play in supporting the Kingdom’s ambitious 2030 Vision, and nurturing our host communities through volunteering and micro-industries.
It also highlights the ongoing success of our highly successful iktva localization program, including supporting the creation of 31 new in-Kingdom manufacturers in 2022.
— The Arabian Sun: June 15, 2023