Environmental stewardship

Routine flaring is an established method of disposing of gas that is generated through oil production in quantities that exceed the capacity to process it for sale or use it as an energy source. Our strategy for eliminating routine flaring, therefore, is dependent upon increasing our gas processing capacity at Jubilee and TEN fields. Implementation of the changes necessary to achieve this requires the temporary stoppage of operations at each site to allow for switching out of core equipment and other modifications. In 2023, we completed the required modifications at the TEN field that enable the elimination of routine flaring by 2025. Most of the required modifications and upgrades in the Jubilee field were completed and the remainder will be completed in early 2025.

On the Jubilee FPSO, we completed the replacement of six gas compressor motors with larger electric motor drivers and installed a high-capacity compression wheel on different units to deliver an increase in gas processing capacity of around 35%. The efficient operation of these upgraded compressors is sufficient to process the expected higher gas flow arriving at the FPSO from current and new production wells. Alongside the increase in gas compression capacity, we increased gas dehydration capacity by repurposing an unused process vessel. A remaining expansion is required on the intermediate gas cooling system and this is planned for early 2025.

At the TEN FPSO, we modified our system to allow routing of low-pressure separated gas from a multi-functional separator vessel into the gas compression system. Prior to this change, low pressure excess gas needed to be flared, but now, both high- and low-pressure gases can be routed to the compressor, eliminating the need for flaring.

These changes allow for the elimination of routine flaring by 2025, although the exact timing is dependent upon minor additional capacity modifications that are expected to take place during the next planned Jubilee FPSO shutdown in early 2025.

Our plan to address our residual, hard to abate emissions is a nature-based initiative, working in partnership with the Ghana Forestry Commission to offset more than 600,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. We signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2022 and commissioned Terra Global Capital to undertake a feasibility study in April 2022. We expect to complete the agreement this year with our first carbon offsets being delivered within two years.

In the meantime, we have been engaging with various stakeholders at the national level in Ghana such as the Ghanaian Environmental Protection Agency and communities in the project landscape to gather initial feedback on different needs and expectations. Led by the Forestry Commission, we have also conducted field mapping work to understand the land composition to determine deforestation rates and potential volume from the project area.

This nature-based offset initiative covers 14 priority districts in the Bono and Bono East regions of Ghana. These districts are some of the most degraded and have high rates of deforestation due to economic activities such as clearance for cash crops and overgrazing. The offsetting initiative’s key intervention activities to mitigate the threats of deforestation include a range of activities informed by engagement with communities in the regions. They will cover the generation of alternative sources of income from food crop production and will support improved land management such as fire and grazing prevention and sustainable charcoal production. For the more than one million people living in the project areas, this project aims to be transformational in terms of supporting a sustainable environment, generating work and improving livelihoods.

The initiative directly supports Ghana’s National Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) strategy and will be managed under the Ghana Forestry Commission’s Climate Change Directorate, aligning with leading carbon and social and environmental standards.

We work with our partners at our non‑operated assets to drive the elimination of routine flaring and pursue other emission reduction opportunities. Routine flaring on Ezanga, Echira and Turnix in Gabon ceased in 2021 and gas from these assets is now exported or utilised for power generation. However, our expectations of reducing routine flaring at the Simba and Tchatamba fields did not progress as planned in 2023, as the technology proposed for deployment by our Joint Venture partner was not suitable for use in an offshore environment. We are working collaboratively to explore alternative ways forward.

Our detailed pathway to Net Zero and managing climate risks to our business are laid out in our Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations within our Annual Report and Accounts. This report provides an in-depth description and analysis of our approach in the following areas:

Governance of climate change and climate-related risks: Our Board of Directors holds accountability for our management of climate-risk and is supported by three of the four Board Committees, our Senior Leadership Team, managers throughout our operations and specialist consultants. The sustainability team leads the integration of climate risk management across the business.

Strategy for managing climate- related risks: In line with our belief that fossil fuels will remain part of the global energy mix for some time, and that oil and gas resources must be developed and produced responsibly, we have committed to and defined a pathway to achieve Net Zero on our Scope 1 and 2 net equity emissions by 2030, supporting our host countries in benefitting from the responsible development of natural resource wealth. We continued to test the resilience of our portfolio against International Energy Agency scenarios: the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, Announced Pledges Scenario, and Stated Policies Scenario.

As a predominantly oil producing company with no downstream assets, the key financial
risk for our business remains oil price.

We remain a resilient business, positioned to support our host nations in developing their hydrocarbon resources to promote sustainable and inclusive economic development.

Assessment of climate-related risks: Tullow considers climate-related risks and opportunities as an upstream exploration and production company with limited exposure to impacts in the downstream and distribution aspects of the oil and gas sector.  We continue to examine the interconnection of climate-related and other risks identified through our enterprise risk management processes. These processes provide a systematic approach of understanding, evaluating and addressing risks to ensure strategic objectives are achieved.

Metrics and targets: Tullow has a performance culture focused on achieving the key metrics and targets we set for the business, including performance indicators for the management of climate-related risks and opportunities. Tullow is committed to achieving Net Zero by 2030 on our Scope 1 and 2 net equity emissions, supporting the 2°C goal of the Paris Agreement. This is a target we are focussed on throughout the company, from Board through to our operation teams in Ghana, where we are focussing on decarbonising our operated production.

Overall, our water impact is minimal and water withdrawal remains fairly constant year on year, with changes due to differences in operations. In 2023, for example, water withdrawal reduced by 10% compared to 2022. More than 77% of our water withdrawal is from seawater, with zero withdrawal from surface water or areas of water stress. Our water discharge in any given year represents close to 100% of our water withdrawal. All water is discharged back to the sea after treatment.

We support our host communities with water supply where possible. In 2023, for example, we continued our management of community water boreholes for the benefit of local communities in our operating regions in Kenya. On average, almost 20,000 households benefit from our water distribution which reaches approximately 109,500 cubic metres of water per year.

We aspire to reduce all waste generated by our operations with a goal of achieving zero waste to landfill at all our sites.

Total non-hazardous waste generated in 2023 was 352 tonnes, 35% down from 2022.

We continue to implement a rigorous programme of waste segregation and waste management, aiming to reduce waste at source and recycle wherever possible. All wood and fibre waste is recycled and we have eliminated single-use plastics from our offices and offshore operations. Other plastic waste is recycled to make pavement blocks and other goods. This year, a focus area of our Green Team in Ghana was to increase the visibility of the top three hazardous waste trends in our operations and encourage responsible waste management and a reduction in hazardous waste where possible.

Our waste result in 2023 is encouraging, reflecting all these efforts, with an overall reduction in total waste of 5% and a significant increase in waste which was diverted from disposal.

Engaging contractors in environmental stewardship: Our second EHS Contractor Forum of 2023 brought together more than 30 leaders from 16 companies to share knowledge and foster collaboration to promote reducing the environmental impact of our business. This Forum emphasised “Sustainability at the Forefront of Every Business”.

Engaging employees for the environment: Throughout June 2023, our Environmental Awareness Month, we held a series of themed events to raise awareness about our impact on the environment and the steps we can take to protect the planet. During the month, we hosted lectures and training events on a range of topics and, together with [other] oil service companies, participated in two community beach cleanups at Takoradi and Accra. A total of 315 members of the Tullow team participated in the cleanups and overall, more than 2,600kg of waste was collected. Additionally, 100 Tullow volunteers supported the Green Ghana campaign by planting 200 trees at Lake Shikabu in Accra to augment reforestation efforts and enhance the natural environment of our local community.

We aim to protect biodiversity wherever we operate, and we strive to minimise negative impacts of our operations at the planning, exploration, development and decommissioning phases of our activities.

We prevent pollution in our operations, neither explore for nor exploit oil in World Heritage Sites. We mitigate the potential for our operations to impact areas of natural and cultural value prior to undertaking any activity.

We are actively working to protect ocean health, as well as avoiding other land impacts of our activities. For example, our Net Zero strategy includes a carbon offset component to address our residual, hard to abate emissions through nature-based solutions in Ghana. We see this as an opportunity not only to offset our emissions but to align our portfolio of nature-based carbon offset projects to support socio-economic benefits for communities as well as broader biodiversity objectives, including the preservation of critical habitats.

In general, we aim to follow a consistently high standard of biodiversity protection and deploy measures to minimise our impact. In Ghana, for example, we:

• Conduct offshore marine environmental surveys every three years, collecting water and benthic sediment samples from the Jubilee and TEN fields to assess significant potential impacts on the marine environment.
• Undertake marine mammal observation (MMO) by trained observers to watch and record marine mammal sightings in the Jubilee and TEN fields as part of our overall protocol to avoid harm to marine mammals and turtles. Since the inception of MMO in 2010, more than 1,200 marine animal sightings have been made, confirming the continued presence of several species not previously known to be abundant in Ghanaian waters.
• Maintain procedures to reduce disturbance to marine and coastal ecology from vessels and helicopters by specifying travel routes, speeds and flight heights. Tullow also mitigates disturbances to marine mammals from seismic operations using best practice slow start-up protocols, use of dedicated watchkeepers on seismic vessels as well as the use of passive acoustic monitoring.
• Follow designated preferred flight and vessel routes for helicopter and vessel operations to the Jubilee and TEN Fields from Sekondi and Takoradi ports, which avoid direct approaches to areas of high biodiversity significance as well as the maintenance of a minimum altitude of 2,300 ft over wetlands and areas designated as ‘Important Bird Areas’, such as the Amansure Wetlands.

As we exit assets in our host countries, our objectives are to leave oil field sites with no negative impacts on biodiversity or the environment in general. We work with in-house and external specialists to decommission our assets, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations covering decommissioning and that all oil field infrastructure is left hydrocarbon free. We remove and responsibly dispose of above and below surface infrastructure in accordance with As Low As Reasonably Practicable principles.

In 2023, our ongoing decommissioning activities in the UK and Mauritania made progress. In the UK, in the Thames area, after having previously removed all production platforms we completed a rock placement survey this year. We then proceeded with protecting the seabed with sustainable local rocks to cover all the remaining infrastructure. An over trawl survey of the Thames area was completed showing there are no snagging hazards for users of the sea in that area, including safe waters for fishing. In Mauritania, our plans to complete final well head protections and removals in 2023 were delayed due to a technical failure on the rig. This activity will continue in the coming year, with an aim to leave zero residual impact on the marine environment.

Since 2016, Tullow has invested more than $500 million to decommission assets responsibly, assuring protection for both marine biodiversity and local communities as exploration and development activities cease.