Petro-Canada was awarded the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) Steward of Excellence award for environmental performance in 2008 for our work to decommission flare pits and upgrade our flaring program in northeast British Columbia. While not a regulatory requirement, Petro-Canada made the commitment to remove them rather than just fence them off. Every pit has since been secured, 105 have been decommissioned and only three have been fenced due to constraints preventing their removal. The potential exists for this process to be adopted across the province by industry peers and is an example of how initiative shown by individual companies is not only the right thing to do, but can bolster the reputation of the industry.
Petro-Canada also ranked first among its peers in the oil and gas industry and second overall in a 2009 study by Corporate Knights, an advocacy group that measures companies according to those that “do the best job at fulfilling their end of the social contract and managing their specific environmental, social and governance performance when going head-to-head with their sector peers.”
Additionally, in 2009 Petro-Canada was again evaluated by Ethisphere Magazine as one of the 2008 World’s Most Ethical Companies in recognition of the Company’s commitment to ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility. Once again, in 2009, Covalence, a Geneva-based monitoring organization, also acknowledged Petro-Canada’s strong ethical practices. In the 2009 Corporate Knights Aboriginal Relations Ranking: Extractive Industries, Petro-Canada was ranked 3rd in the Oil & Gas industry.
The Globe and Mail conducts an annual survey of Canadian corporate social responsibility practices. Petro-Canada tied for first place in the Canadian oil and gas sector with an A- rating in 2007. This survey is based on the Jantzi Social Index, which evaluates a corporation’s environmental, social and governance performance. Again, in 2009, based on the Jantzi Social Index, Maclean’s magazine also commended Petro-Canada on many aspects of corporate social responsibility, especially focusing on our leadership in the area of water conservation, our community investment program and our diversity in the workforce.