IHS Inc. : Energy Companies Embrace Sustainability as Key Operational Issue, According to Speakers at CERAWeek 2012

Energy industry companies are now incorporating sustainability into their core business operations in order to reduce growing risks and complexities that threaten their ability to meet their business performance goals.

During CERAWeek 2012, which was held March 5-9 in Houston, industry and policy leaders observed that energy companies are taking proactive steps to ensure compliance with proliferating regulations while also responding to investors and customers who demand transparent reporting of progress against voluntary sustainability goals. By looking for opportunities to innovate and streamline critical workflows, many of these energy companies are now transforming sustainability into a competitive advantage.

"We are seeing more energy companies embrace sophisticated enterprise sustainability management strategies that enable them to lower their risk exposure and uncover opportunities for new operational efficiencies," IHS Senior Vice President Woody Ritchey remarked at a dinner where he joined Connecticut Commissioner for the Environment Dan Esty and ERM Partner Matt Haddon to discuss a variety of issues with a select group of industry executives.

ERM, an IHS alliance partner and CERAWeek sponsor, recently conducted an analysis of major capital projects that have experienced significant delivery delays and found that 70 percent were attributable to unresolved environmental or sustainability challenges. As a result, companies are incorporating sustainability in their management systems alongside operational and technical issues.  

In a plenary session on "Strategies for a Growing World," Yves-Louis Darricarrere, president of exploration & production and gas & power at Total SA, said: "I would like to make it clear that our business will not be sustainable if we are not responsible operators accepted by all stakeholders, including the civil society. We need to strongly commit to excellence, first and foremost, in safety and environment. We also need to promote transparency with regards to our operations. These are prerequisites to get our license to operate."

This year CERAWeek, the world's premier energy conference, featured increased focus by industry experts who offered insights around sustainability issues and how they impact the global energy marketplace as well as new approaches and tools for addressing sustainability and environmental challenges. CERAWeek 2012, chaired by IHS CERA Chairman and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin, framed the sustainability discussion for this year's conference by asking the question, "How do you attain your energy and environmental objectives at the same time?"

During the conference, executives and thought leaders discussed a wide array of sustainability-related topics, including:

• Lessons learned in the past decade and emerging strategies for success
• How sustainability challenges are redefining the competitiveness in the industry
• How effective sustainability programs can boost an organization's bottom line
• The outlook for new regulations or standards and how they may impact energy companies

One session on "New Strategies for Operational Excellence: Crucible for the Energy Industry" featured OSIsoft President Bernard Morneau; IHS Vice President, EHS & Sustainability Innovation Technologies Joseph Stough; LyondellBasell Vice President, HSE and Operational Excellence, Sam Smolik; National Safety Council Executive Committee Board of Directors member Mike Henderek; and IHS Chief Energy Strategist David Hobbs as panelists. They offered perspectives on critical issues such as evolving industry approaches to operational excellence in the wake of prior events; how industry is responding to public demands and expectations (safety management); aligning management incentives with safety and operational excellence performance; and leveraging operational excellence strategies to improve overall business performance.

"The depth and breadth of issues that were addressed at CERAWeek this year is another clear indication that enterprise sustainability management is emerging as a business imperative for energy industry executives around the world," Ritchey said. 

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About IHS ( www.ihs.com)
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of information, insight and analytics in critical areas that shape today's business landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and confidence. IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS employs more than 5,500 people in more than 30 countries around the world.

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