Environment

Our objective is to minimize our environmental impact throughout the entire lifecycle of operations. We are committed to acting for pollution prevention, reducing emissions and efficient use of energy and natural resources.

Environmental Management

We emphasize issues of material importance to both OMV Petrom and our stakeholders: environmental compliance, spills, water and waste management, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. All topics of material importance related to our environmental impact are managed through a single management approach, governed by general and topic-specific Group regulations, and reported to management accordingly. Specifics regarding the definition of each environmental topic’s scope and management are provided in the corresponding sections: environmental compliance, spills, water management, and waste management. We also cover the topics of biodiversity and air emissions other than GHG, which are also important to OMV Petrom. Reporting on the management of GHG emissions can be found in the Climate Change and Energy Transition section.

 

The principles and rules for environmental management are set out in the OMV Petrom Group’s HSSE Directive and the OMV Petrom Group Environmental Management Standard. The HSSE Directive provides a framework for how we manage all HSSE topics to protect people, environment, assets, and reputation, in line with our HSSE Policy and in view of our HSSE Vision “ZERO harm – NO losses.”

 

The Environmental Standard supports our commitment to keep our workplaces and processes safe for the environment and all people who may be affected by our activities. This Standard establishes the key responsibilities and requires that all relevant activities (including investment, acquisitions, and divestment) implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) consistent with ISO 14001 and adhere to the minimum requirements listed (including energy use, air emissions, GHG and climate change, water, waste, and biodiversity management).

In 2020, OMV Petrom held valid certifications in accordance with ISO 14001 for the following operations:

► OMV Petrom S.A., Upstream Business Division, Gas Pipeline Management System;

► OMV Petrom S.A., Upstream Business Division, Workover and Drilling Management System;

► OMV Petrom S.A., Refining Business Unit: Petrobrazi refinery, Combined Cycle Power Plant Brazi and Petrom City (Product Supply and Strategic Pricing, and Petrom City Power Plant);

► OMV Petrom Marketing S.R.L. (OMV branded Filling Stations), OMV Bulgaria OOD and OMV SRBIJA DOO;

► OMV Petrom S.A., Downstream Gas, gas and power supply activities.

Our Environmental Management System that is certified according to ISO 14001 covers around 50% of Petrom Group’s employees.

OMV Petrom tracks environmental performance in all relevant areas through an annual campaign using suitable IT tools to collect, analyze, and validate the environmental data. Based on the results of the reporting, we can evaluate where our operations have the greatest potential for improvement. In addition to the annual campaign, we constantly monitor and report our environmental performance through specific KPIs on a systematic basis at various organization levels.

The Executive Board members are informed regularly, at least quarterly, via Environment Task Force, about environmental issues and performance on topics including climate change and energy transition, water management, present and upcoming environmental, climate, and energy-related policies and regulations, the status of environmental-related projects implementation, as well as the progress on achieving sustainability-related targets.

Environmental compliance

The OMV Petrom Group Environmental Management Standard requires compliance with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, identification of legal and other requirements, development and maintenance of appropriate legal compliance databases, and alignment with internationally accepted best practices as part of our EMS. According to the Standard, we must also establish programs to prevent  non-compliance and avoid monetary losses.

 

We are liable for the impact that our activities have on the environment. Breaching environmental regulations on a national and international level results in monetary losses and harm to our reputation. Our license to operate depends on compliance with regulations relating to environmental protection, which is also of particular importance to our stakeholders, such as governmental authorities, shareholders and NGOs.

 

We report OMV Petrom’s environmental costs and investments according to EMA (Environmental Management Accounting) methodology developed by IFAC (International Federation of Accountants). The reporting boundaries for this indicator category are OMV Petrom S.A., OMV Petrom Aviation SRL and OMV Petrom Marketing SRL.

 

In 2020, our total environmental costs (accounting for environmental protection expenditure, including depreciation and environmental investments for assets put into operation) amounted to EUR 148.82 mn (2019: EUR 214.30 mn). According to the EMA approach, the environmental investments for assets put into operation in 2020 totalled EUR 36.26 mn (2019: EUR 45.82 mn). In 2020, we paid EUR 0.047 mn (2019: EUR 0.058 mn) in fines and penalties. These sanctions resulted mainly from environmental incidents, related to spills. No paid fines were above EUR 10,000 in any of our operations in 2020.

Raising the environmental awareness of employees – foundation for sustaining our actions

OMV Petrom raises the environmental awareness of employees through various internal communication tools, including campaigns. On the World Environment Day 2020, we conveyed biodiversity messages in the larger context of climate change. We addressed the water topic on the occasion of the World Water Week. The Petrobrazi refinery implemented the campaign “Get involved in emission reduction, secure yourself a better future.” The campaign aimed at raising awareness on acting to decrease the refinery’s air emissions. A number of 28 employees submitted 49 improvement ideas. The management assessed these ideas and awarded the best three of them.

SDG13 Target: 13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

The OMV Petrom Group Environmental Management Standard stipulates an assessment of environmental impacts and risks and adherence to environmental performance requirements in terms of energy use, emissions into the atmosphere, water use and discharge, the use of raw materials, waste management, hazardous substance handling, and biodiversity and ecosystem protection. The OMV Petrom Group Environmental Management Standard also defines the process of carrying out Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs). Preventive and mitigation measures as well as the monitoring program to ensure implementation of the proposed measures are documented in an Environmental and Social Management Plan. The final ESIA report is submitted to the local regulator or lender (whichever is applicable) for review, public disclosure and approval.

Environmental risks and opportunities include regulatory, operational, reputational, and financial drivers and specifically relate to climate change, water availability for operations, and the impact of energy, climate, and water policies. The management of environment-related risks is part of OMV Petrom’s Enterprise-Wide Risk Management (EWRM) processes as described in the Risk Management section. Digital technologies are used to monitor and manage environmental risks through a special risk management IT tool – the Active Risk Management System (ARMS). This tool allows us to better integrate environmental risk scenarios with other HSSE and business risks. Identified and assessed risks are controlled and mitigated at all organizational levels thanks to clearly defined risk policies and responsibilities.

Before undertaking new operational activities / projects or entering new countries, we perform environmental risk assessments, including evaluations of local legislation, the potential impact of our activities on sensitive and protected areas, and the effects on endangered species. Each subsequent phase of project implementation is accompanied by a detailed assessment of environmental risks.

Strategic risks and opportunities (e.g., related to climate change or water stress) are assessed in a top-down process, while a bottom-up process with a standardized methodology is used to assess environmental aspects, impacts, and risks, including legal compliance risks, in our operations. The framework and methodology for our coordinated Group-wide Environmental Risk Assessment are based on best practice, meet ISO 14001 requirements, and ensure the consistent qualitative assessment of operational risks related to the environment. The resulting environmental risk database includes information on existing controls for environmental risks and future actions required.

Modernization of the Otopeni 2 aviation fuel terminal in Downstream - minimization of the environmental risks

OMV Petrom is constantly focusing on the aviation business and is looking to improve the security of aviation fuel supply for all our airlines customers. Our Company provides Jet A1 fuel and offers into-plane services through OMV Petrom Aviation, at all main airports in Romania. In 2020, OMV Petrom completed the Otopeni 2 Aviation Fuel Terminal modernization, following an investment of EUR 3.67 mn. This terminal has a storage capacity of 6,000 m3 and modern equipment meeting the legal, technical, and HSSE requirements of the aviation industry for intermediary storages. We minimized the environmental risks through measures including automated downloading and uploading system, energy-efficient pumping system, geomembrane for tanks’ bund lining, internal and external epoxy coating for corrosive protection of tanks, new sewerage system and leak-proof concrete platforms.

SDG 9 Target: 9.4 By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.

Status in 2020► Reviewed the Environmental Risk Assessment Registers and implemented risk reduction measures.
► Developed reports on water and waste management.
► Implemented water efficiency measures and assessed the water-related risks for Arpechim Terminal in Downstream and Asset Muntenia in Upstream.
Action plan to achieve the targets► Monitor and report systematically on water and waste performance.
► Monitor and manage the environmental risks, including climate change-related water stress.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) supported