Oil and the environment

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Three companies dominate the world oil market -- Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell. CNN outlines their activities and corporate environmental policies.

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil is the world's largest publicly traded oil company, operating in almost 200 countries. Its activities include oil and natural gas exploration in seven continents, petrochemical production, coal and copper mining and electricity.

It has major oil and gas holdings in Europe, the U.S, and eastern Canada and is looking for opportunities in West Africa, the former Soviet Union, and South America. It also has stakes in electric power plants in China.

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Exxon Mobil's refining capacity exceeds 6 million barrels per day, and the company's refined products are sold at more than 40,000 service stations operating under the Exxon, Esso, and Mobil brands in 118 countries.

Its net profit dropped 58 percent for the first quarter of 2002, blamed on one of the warmest winters on record and a rocky world economy following last September's terrorist attacks on the United States.

The company's environmental policy states that it is committed to improving environmental performance and balancing the environmental and economic needs of the communities where it operates.

ExxonMobil contributed $8 million in 2001 to environmental causes, including $5.7 million outside the U.S. The company's revenue for 2001 was $47.3 billion.

Its corporate sponsorship includes the Save the Tiger Fund and tree planting.

The Save the Tiger Fund was established in 1995 with the Washington-based non-profit conservation National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to support long-term tiger conservation projects in Asia, the U.S. and Europe.

The company has planted 2 million trees in the past five years, including trees in the U.S., Siberian (to restore tiger habitat) and in Germany.

In the U.K. ExxonMobil has supported tree planting initiatives involving charities, government departments and other corporations.

BP

London-based BP is the second largest oil company, formed by the merger in 1998 of British Petroleum and Amoco.

With large Alaskan holdings, it is the biggest U.S. oil and gas producer. It also has significant production activities in Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, and Trinidad.

BP owns 29,000 service stations worldwide. It has a daily capacity of 3.2 million barrels of oil and manufactures petrochemicals and specialty chemicals.

Its profit dropped 57 percent for the first quarter of 2002, in line with its competitors ExxonMobil and Shell.

The company says it is determined not to harm to people or the environment.

Its environmental spending fell in 2001 compared with 2000, "reflecting benefits realised from environmental programmes in prior years and the impact of refinery disposals," the company says.

It spent $180 million in 2001 on providing for environmental mediation, compared with $228 million in 2000.

It had to close Alaskan production in October 2001 after a person fired a single shot into the pipeline, resulting in an oil spillage that spread through four acres of woodland. BP said there were no wildlife deaths reported and that the oil did not reach any waterways.

In 2001, the company said it achieved over one million tonnes of sustainable reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions and exceeded their annual 2 percent reduction target.

"Since 1999 our annual reductions now total over 10 percent against our 1990 baseline. We have therefore met the target we set ourselves in 1998, well ahead of our 2010 schedule."

Shell

The Anglo-Dutch group of Royal Dutch/Shell is the world's third-largest oil and gas group, behind Exxon Mobil and BP.

Based in London and The Hague, the company has operations in more than 140 countries. It owns or has interests in about 50 refineries worldwide and sells fuel through more than 46,000 service stations.

Although it generates sales mainly from its oil products business, the group also makes chemicals, transports natural gas, trades gas and electricity, and develops renewable energy sources.

Its first-quarter net income fell 48 percent, a slightly better performance than both ExxonMobil and BP.

Shell's seven principles of sustainable development include continually looking for "new ways to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, products and services," and the efficient use of natural resources to reduce costs and "respect the needs of future generations."

The company said 2001 was a disappointing year for it environmentally as its overall greenhouse gas emissions increased 2 percent to 103 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. However, Shell still expects to meet its target to reduce emissions to 10 percent below 1990 levels by the end of 2002.

In 2001 spill volumes increased significantly from 9,900 to 17,800 tonnes. A major rupture of the Trans Niger Pipeline resulted in the loss of 3,601 tonnes, and 1,275 tonnes were spilled during a well blow out at a site in Oman.

At the end of 2001 the total liabilities being carried for environmental clean-up, decommissioning, and site restoration were $3,069 million, compared to $2,989 million in 2000.

Sources:

Exxon Mobil Corporation 2001 Worldwide Contributions and Community Investments

People, Planet and Profits – The Shell Report 2001

BP Environmental and Social Review 2001