Sustainability is embedded into our business and central to all operational activities. OKEA aims to provide better energy solutions in a responsible manner, in a way that balances short- and long-term interests, and that integrates economic, environmental, social and governance considerations. Our sustainability strategy has a long-term perspective that provides a reference for innovation, organisational development, as well as risk mitigation and risk prevention.
As a pure play independent exploration and production (E&P) company and operator on the Norwegian continental shelf, we recognise the need to maintain our licence to operate. As such, safe production with excellent HSE and continuous emissions reductions are clear areas of focus.
Safe and responsible operations are essential for our license to operate and an enabler of long-term value creation. We are ensuring compliance with legal requirements and regulations, contribute to a good working environment and see to that the people in our organization is treated fairly, respecting human rights, and securing that our operations are conducting such a way that we make no harm to people and minimum impact on the environment.
We also recognise the importance of a diverse and inclusive culture, fostering engaged people as drivers of our performance. OKEA also has a well-established governance framework that complies with the various Norwegian legal requirements and the Norwegian Code of Practice for Corporate Governance. upholding our robust risk management framework while acting with the highest standards of integrity in all that we do.
Through our core business and supply chain, we create economic value and opportunities for shareholders, society, and communities. We provide jobs, invest in employees’ skills and capabilities.
OKEA works actively to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). It is important for us to maximise shareholder value while ensuring that resources are utilised in an efficient and responsible manner to the benefit of all stakeholders. Our approach to sustainability centres around the principle of “Safe production: No harm. No leak” and rests on three tenets:
- Environment – Minimising our impact on the natural environment
- We actively work to reduce our net carbon footprint through cost-effective measures across technology and energy efficiency.
- We extend the lifetime of mid-to-late life fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, thereby maximising the use of existing infrastructure.
- We strive for best-in-class discharge management to protect nature.
- Social – Ensuring safe and responsible operations
- We provide a safe working environment for employees and contractors through a robust HSEQ culture
- We promote a diverse and engaged workforce and respect human rights
- We focus on having a positive local impact by actively recruiting workforce and using relevant contractors from the regions where we operate
- Governance – Maintaining high standard of corporate governance and business ethics with established policies and guidelines
- We are committed to applying ethical business practices and comply with legal requirements and regulations throughout the organisation and the supply chain
- We evaluate sustainability in our procurement processes
- We maintain an ongoing monitoring of the regulatory landscape
Based on this we actively work within the following six commitment areas, setting relevant targets and KPIs for our activities and performance.
People
Committed to our people – safe operations
OKEA believes that engaged people, collaborating to reach our goals in an open and inclusive environment is key to the company’s success.
HSE
Stakeholders
Committed to our stakeholders
OKEA is committed to engage fully with our stakeholders and to foster good relations that are based on fairness and transparency. The aim is to pursue tangible development objectives and create shared value.
Sustainable development
Committed to national and industry goals for a sustainable development
OKEA sees a potential to reduce our environmental impact and operational costs through increased efforts on energy management, both in our operation, exploration, supply chain and administrative activities.
Supply chain management
Committed to our partners – supply chain management
OKEA works actively to identify and mitigate ESG risks in the supply chain, while working with suppliers to identify and utilize opportunities.
Environment
Committed to the environment – protection and biodiversity
OKEA considers the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems as a fundamental component of sustainable development and maintains a transparent dialogue with stakeholders.
Communities
Committed to our communities
OKEA is committed to contribute to the communities where we operate and strengthen local business and work actively to recruit workforce from the regions where we are based.
OKEA supports the SDGs and believes that business has a key role to play in the implementation of the goals. We recognise that our business activities may have both positive and negative impacts on the SDGs. We seek to be transparent about our impact, to maximise our positive contribution to the goals and to minimise our negative impact on them. Our core business of delivering energy to our customers and the way we operate contribute to the realisation of several of the SDGs. Some of our main contributions are outlined in our sustainability report and illustrated below.
- Contribute to the development of skilled workers by taking in apprentices within several disciplines
- Support and collaborate with academic institutions and innovation centers (NTNU and SINTEF)
- Gender-neutral pay system
- Action plan to increase share of female employees
- Policy against all forms of discrimination
- Defining processes related to talent and career development as part of ensuring robust succession plans and employee development
- Strategy to use best available technology to reduce
- Policy to purchase energy-efficient and low-emission equipment
- Increase recovery from existing fields through near-field exploration and life-time extension of assets and development of discovered resources.
- Maturing phase 2 for the investment decision to supply offshore production with renewable electrical power from shore on Draugen
- Emphasising contribution to local value creation and endeavoring to source local suppliers where feasible in our procurement and vendor management processes
- Formalised worker involvement regarding health, environment and safety matters
- Safety & Sustainability aspects of main suppliers checked through capability assessment in EPIM Joint Qualification System (JQS) and verified through audits
- Initiation of several projects within digitalisation, to further improve operations
- Actively using R&D for innovation where this supports OKEA’s business strategy (including ESG strategy)
- All waste either reused, recycled, recovered for energy use or landfilled
- Sustainability integrated into all procurement practices
- Participation in NCS Virtual inventory to share materials between operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
- Greenhouse gas reduction opportunities considered from the design stage for major projects (e.g. carbon capture)
- Conducting risk assessments in line with the Task Force on Climate- related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidelines and taking action to reduce carbon emissions from operations
- Detailed environmental assessments conducted when planning projects to identify potential impact from OKEA’s activities
- Focus on understanding environmental and social sensitivities in areas where OKEA operates, with the aim of avoiding, minimising and mitigating any potential impacts