Beatriz Espinosa on responsible oil and gas | Petrobras | Video

Petrobras is a vast organisation, operating in 28 countries in all segments of oil, gas and energy. Recently it announced plans to double its oil production to over five million barrels per day by 2020 – but can it achieve this goal while maintaining its own energy efficiency and carbon strategy? Beatriz Espinosa explains the company’s approach.

The New Economy: How important is it for a company that is the size of Patrobras to have an effective carbon reporting methodology?

Beatriz Espinosa: Patrobras is an integrated energy company operating in 28 countries in all segments of oil, gas and energy. The company produces the equivalent of 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, it has 130 platforms, 15 refineries, around 7000 gas stations, 18 thermoelectric plants, 4 bioelectric plants among other installations. For the next year we plan to spend 224 billion dollars and we also announce that we will increase oil production from 2.5 to 5.3 million barrels a day in 2020. So we will double the oil and gas production and as a consequence we will increase the energy consumption and the C02 omissions. In this context we need to use energy in the most efficient ways we can, and have an effective carbon strategy. A foundation for a carbon strategy is a consistent omissions inventory in an effective carbon reporting methodology. By having such methodology it is possible to manage carbon omissions in order to improve the performance of your business units. That is the importance of having an effective carbon reporting for Pertrobras, to support the fast growth projected in our business plan was environmental sustainability.

The New Economy: So how do you measure the key components, the omissions inventory and quality attributes?

Beatriz Espinosa: Since 2002 Petrobras has developed and implemented a system called SIGEA, system for air emissions management which integrates all the company’s activities with more than 30,000 sources registered which provide an inventory on green house gasses and air pollution. Petrobras reports the emissions inventory in the sustainability report every year, as well as initiatives which contribute to climate change mitigation. The inventory is verified by a third party in that is in compliance with international guidelines as GHG protocol provided by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Also it is in compliance with American Petroleum Institute guidelines. The system supports business areas and operational units, to manage their omissions and increase their performance. All operational units provides data to the system which allows us to follow the results on a monthly basis. Additional to this, in 2002, we promoted training to our employees on emissions management in the sister news. So far we have trained more than 1,500 people in order to build a consistent inventory, that we understand is essential for our effective carbon reporting.

The New Economy: In a company the size of Petrobras, more than 100 platforms, 15 refineries, more than 7000 service stations, how do you roll out the implementation process?

Beatriz Espinosa: First of all we needed a top leadership commitment to the process,in order to engage the organisation at all levels. With this proposal Petrobras made it clear in it’s strategic planning, the commitment to sustainable development and it’s social and environmental responsibility. It is also clear in our business plan, our objectives to achieve excellence in energy efficiency and technology, in the renewable development and production. These are the important pillars for our carbon strategy. In order to deploy this strategy a corporate programme was designed and a governance was put in place, with the participation of all business areas, to follow up the initiatives implementation as well as emissions performance. Additionally, voluntary goals for our wider C02 emissions in our operations have been set since 2005. Our visible commitment has been a key element for helping to roll out the implementation process from the corporate to operational levels.

The New Economy: The Kyoto Protocol introduced us to the clean development mechanism, or CDM, what are the companies initiatives on CDM?

Beatriz Espinosa: Petrobras is a company with major operations and production in Brazil, has opportunities in the CDM mechanisms established by the Kyoto protocol and seeks to develop them. We also have huge investments in energy efficiency, fuel reduction, process optimisation, new technology and renewable energy. Some of these projects are measurable to CDM and we have a dedicated team to work on these opportunities. So far we have got to choose two gates from the UN, one is a wind power plant and the second relates to a project that aims to reduce nitrous oxides omissions in a fertiliser plant. We also have a further technology packed into the Petrobras named HBO which has had it’s methodology accepted by the UN, we are just waiting for the final certification. This process aims to reduce green gas omissions by using a vegetable and mineral oil mixture for hydrodis authorisation unit in our refineries. We will continue to look for new opportunities in the carbon market and we are also engaged in National and International initiatives and corporations, to better understand the climate change policies and science, and contribute to promote the transition to a low carbon economy.

The New Economy: How do you communicate your results to stakeholders?

Beatriz Espinosa: We openly communicate our results to stakeholders through several means. The main one is our sustainability annual report which has a high level of transparency and tailored information regarding performance from economical, social and environmental dimensions. In this report we publish the emissions inventory as well as our strategies and initiatives in climate change mitigation. It is available on our website, and our annual report has received a great amount of international recognition from institutions such as GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), UN Global Compact, Investor Relations Magazine among others. And now from The New Economy, for Best Carbon Reporting in Brazil. One of the results of this effort is that Petrobras has been part of the dow jones sustainability index since 2006. Another way of communicating our results is the Carbon Disclosure programme that we have applied since 2004. These relevant tools for quantifying and comparing companies carbon emissions, management and strategies impacts on corporate performance. I would say that open communication and dialogue with the stake-holders is part of our values, and is the basis for our business.

The New Economy: What lessons would you say could be learned from the experience of carbon reporting, from a company of this scale?

Beatriz Espinosa: Building a carbon reporting process in a company as big and diverse Petrobras requires a huge effort. It represents a challenge, not only for Petrobras but also to the energy industries. It helps Petrobras in increasing the performance and also learning and sharing with other companies, the experience of this issues. Carbon reporting allows us to show to our stakeholders how we manage our omissions and in addition to that, the process allows the engagement of and organisation at all levels. It promotes the awareness of the employees and the connections between the company’s strategies and operations. We realise that carbon management and climate change mitigation are complex and urgent issues that require contributions from all parts of societies, governments and companies in different countries. Energy is at the centre of this debate, so an energy company like Petrobras has a big challenge and a key role in this contribution, but as we are used to saying in Petrobras; challenges are our energy.

The New Economy: Beatriz Espinosa, thank you very much.
Beatriz: Thank you very much. We are really happy and appreciate this recognition. We congratulate The New Economy for their initiatives; you give us more enthusiasm to improve our performance.