Saudi Aramco publishes first sustainability report

IASP member Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia) has recently published its first ever corporate sustainability report.

The report recognises the company’s goal to maintain its position as a leader in upstream carbon intensity, with one of the lowest carbon footprints per unit of hydrocarbons produced, and ultimately to decarbonize its own operations by 2050.

Saudi Aramco Chairman, His Excellency Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan commented: “Our position is that climate change is a serious risk to humanity’s future and restoring the world to a better carbon balance requires us to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with both oil and gas production and use. We are already an industry leader in minimizing emissions at the point of production, but recognises that that as long as demand for oil and gas exists, emissions also have to be tackled at the point of combustion too, and we are committed to working towards a lower-emissions future with customers and partners around the world.

Technology will be vital to this endeavour, and this Report outlines how our global research network is moving at the speed of science to drive progress everything from cleaner fuels to low-carbon hydrogen to carbon capture, utilization and storage. We are clear that we intend to be a leading player in these new markets and transition technologies.”

The Sustainability Report also highlights how the company plans to use more of its primary product to make the petrochemicals that are the building blocks of modern life. Advanced plastics for instance, are created from carbon molecules, yet can serve as a lower-carbon alternative to traditional materials like steel and glass, and are also crucial elements in the fabrication of renewable energy infrastructure.

This circular carbon economy approach, championed by Saudi Arabia and endorsed by the G20, is part of a broader shift away from a linear economy based on “make, take, and throw away” to an economy designed around reducing waste and reusing and recycling finite materials. In the case of carbon, we can add a fourth ‘R’: removing it from the cycle altogether through carbon capture and storage.

President and CEO Amin H Nasser commented: “Looking ahead, our greatest opportunities now hinge on our ability to operate sustainably. This means ensuring the sustainability of our business, the environment in which we operate and where our products are used, and helping of the societies that are touched by Aramco to grow and prosper. It’s a tall order. We don’t have all the answers and we don’t have all the technologies in place. No one does. But we’re working hard at it, as you’ll see in the following pages [of our Sustainability Report].”

You can read the full Sustainability Report on Saudi Aramco’s website at https://www.aramco.com/en/sustainability/sustainability-report