Habitat Restoration in New Mexico Garners Recognition for Oxy

In 2011, OXY USA Inc. was honored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with two “Restore New Mexico” awards for its habitat restoration efforts on the Todd Lower San Andres Unit in southeast New Mexico. The awards recognize Oxy’s efforts to protect and enhance the habitat of indigenous species including the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard.

After years of use by a previous operator, the Todd Lease was devoid of vegetation and strewn with non-functional equipment. Since acquiring the property in 2008, Oxy has provided leadership and technical assistance in developing and implementing a plan to clean up the area, reestablish native vegetation, and restore the habitat for indigenous species. The surface reclamation work began in 2009 and was completed in 2011. The project restored 85 acres of native habitat in an area that serves as a link to consolidate between 8,500 and 9,000 acres of habitat.

Oxy worked directly with the New Mexico State Land Office, the BLM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and two nonprofit conservation groups, The Nature Conservancy and Playa Lakes Joint Ventures. The restoration will benefit the 18,000 ranchers and other residents of Roosevelt County, New Mexico, who live near the area of re-growth. Said Jesse Juen, Acting State Director of the BLM, Oxy and its fellow honoree companies are “pioneering a new way to conserve and protect species of concern.”

Oxy Helps Protect Rare Colorado Flower

Oxy is teaming with the Colorado Natural Areas Program (CNAP) to protect the Parachute penstemon, a plant known to grow only in a handful of locations in Garfield County, Colorado. Oxy’s properties on Mount Callahan and Mount Callahan Saddle are home to two of the healthiest identified populations. To protect this rare plant species, Oxy has engaged in voluntary efforts such as buffer zones, weed control, motorized travel limits and funding of CNAP’s annual population studies.

In July 2010, Oxy hosted CNAP researchers for the third and final field survey of the flowering plant that hugs the rugged terrain. Noted Oxy Regulatory Analyst Joan Proulx, “Oxy is proud to be a partner with the Colorado Natural Areas Program in research that helps manage the environment responsibly.”

A Focus on Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Carbon dioxide injection for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), in which Oxy is an industry leader, could play a major role in developing and validating national carbon dioxide sequestration strategies to reduce GHG emissions. In addition to its leadership in carbon dioxide EOR, Oxy is focused on managing GHG emissions from its other operational activities. Oxy’s operations make extensive use of natural gas as an energy source, instead of fuels with higher GHG emission factors. Also, Oxy operates several highly efficient cogeneration plants for electrical power and steam to supply its oil and gas and chemical operations. Cogeneration reduces carbon dioxide emissions by a significant degree compared to standalone power and steam generation units. Oxy has been recognized by the U.S. EPA for its longstanding and active efforts to bring methane to natural gas markets, rather than flaring or emitting it to the atmosphere.

Benefiting the Environment in Cushing, Oklahoma

Oxy’s Centurion Pipeline subsidiary completed a project that significantly lowered potential emissions and helped to improve air quality in Cushing, Oklahoma. Centurion acquired the Lewis Tank Farm, an oil storage facility that was not in operable condition, in 2007. In coordination with Oklahoma state agencies and the City of Cushing, Centurion voluntarily decommissioned and removed the 29 tanks — recovering more than 60,000 barrels of crude oil, recycling 14 million pounds of steel and removing more than 12,000 feet of pipe — and consolidated crude oil storage in its state-of the-art facility in Cushing. Consistent with Oxy’s commitments to safety and environmental protection, there were no injuries to Centurion employees or contractors and no releases of oil to the environment during the project. Centurion’s Cushing facility meets federal and state standards, and its tanks have reduced the potential air emissions of volatile organic compounds by more than 99 percent compared to the tanks removed from the Lewis Tank Farm.

Oxy Partners with the Wildlife Habitat Council to Protect Biodiversity and Support Education

Oxy works closely with national, regional and local government agencies to study natural flora and fauna species in our operating locations, minimize disruption of those species and preserve and restore habitat. Our efforts to protect biodiversity are further strengthened by our active membership in the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), a nonprofit organization that helps landowners enhance habitat. WHC’s Corporate Wildlife Habitat Certification - International Accreditation Program recognizes commendable wildlife habitat management and environmental education programs at company-owned properties. Oxy currently has eight facilities in seven states that apply WHC-certified habitat enhancement programs.

During 2011, all four of Oxy Long Beach’s oil production islands achieved the Wildlife Habitat Council’s Corporate Lands for Learning (CLL) certification for the establishment and documentation of their site-based education programs.

Through Oxy Long Beach’s CLL Program, students from Long Beach schools visit Islands Grissom, White, Chaffee and Freeman to learn about the islands’ native habitats. Several times each year, high school students help to maintain or expand the habitats by participating in native plantings, which provide additional opportunities for instruction on coastal ecosystems.

A variety of community and scouting groups also participate in educational and outreach activities through the CLL Program. Oxy Long Beach has identified activities that scouts can perform to earn certain badges or awards. For example, Cub Scouts can meet some of the requirements for the Outdoorsman, Engineer and Naturalist activity badges by visiting the islands. Boy Scouts can pursue merit badges in Bird Study and Citizenship in the Community by participating in island habitat enhancements, or they can use cuttings from native plants to learn the skills required for the Basketry badge. In addition, the Pacific Rim Academy and Oxy Long Beach’s wildlife team have entered into a working partnership to host youths on the islands and establish a program for bird observation and plant propagation.

These projects offer students and community members the opportunity to apply science outside the classroom, learn about California’s native habitats, and see first-hand how industry and wildlife can coexist.

Oxy Promotes Transparency with FracFocus

To provide greater public information on hydraulic fracturing, a national registry website called FracFocus was established that allows oil and gas companies to voluntarily disclose chemical ingredients and other information related to hydraulic fracturing on a well-by-well basis.

The FracFocus website (fracfocus.org) was launched in April 2011 by the Ground Water Protection Council, whose members consist of state groundwater regulatory agencies, and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency. The website provides public access to information on a number of wells of participating oil and gas companies, including Oxy, completed with hydraulic fracturing. The website also provides information on hydraulic fracturing technology, water use and management, chemical ingredients in hydraulic fracturing fluids, ground water protection and links to state regulations. Several states are implementing regulations to require use of FracFocus as a common repository for disclosure on hydraulic fracturing.

Certified Sites Demonstrate Oxy’s Commitment to Biodiversity

The Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) has recognized eight Oxy sites with Wildlife at Work certification, acknowledging commendable wildlife habitat management and environmental education programs.

At the Elk Hills Conservation Area — encompassing 7,878 acres of managed valley saltbush scrub and annual grassland habitat in Kern County, California — biologists, employees and contractors go beyond government requirements to conduct extra monitoring of endangered and other species. During the past decade, employees and contractors have collaborated with researchers studying the effects of cattle grazing on a variety of protected species found in the conservation area. The studies have proved that cattle grazing, if managed properly, is beneficial to certain protected species within the southern San Joaquin Valley.

In addition, Elk Hills employees and contractors attend training programs on species awareness and receive booklets containing descriptions of protected species. WHC President Robert Johnson lauded Elk Hills employees in 2010 for “their commitment to a healthy natural world and connected communities.”

With the certification of Island Chaffee in 2010, all four of THUMS’ oil production islands in Long Beach, California, are Wildlife at Work-certified sites. Each location has created a California native plant habitat featuring native coastal flora. In 2010, two local Boy Scouts conducted their Eagle Scout projects at Island White, focusing on native flowering plants and osprey nesting behavior.

Another certified wildlife habitat and Wildlife at Work site is Oxy’s property in Montague, Michigan. Situated on 880 acres of wetlands, prairies and woodlands, this former plant site is home to wild turkey, whitetail deer, songbirds and numerous amphibians, reptiles and insects. Oxy’s Glenn Springs Holdings subsidiary has restored more than 100 acres of the Montague property as a prairie grass habitat. In 2010, Glenn Springs worked with local agencies to stimulate new plant growth on 40 acres of the property, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a case study of the Montague property’s ecological revitalization.

Reforestation Program in Colombia Brings Economic and Environmental Benefits

Oxy Colombia’s Reforestation Program has planted more than 73,000 native trees on 148 hectares (365.7 acres) in the grasslands of the Arauquita municipality near Caño Limón. Working with Oxy-supported foundation El Alcaraván, Oxy Colombia not only financed the three-year program, but also participated directly in its design and implementation.

The Reforestation Program, which concluded in 2010, improved lands that had been affected by cattle grazing. In addition to planting trees, enhancements included replanting natural vegetation around the bodies of water near the reforestation area, and producing more than 42 tons of composted organic fertilizer for use in the planting and maintenance activities.

The program provided economic benefits in the form of jobs for approximately 40 neighborhood residents, and environmental benefits through natural regeneration of plant life and increased biodiversity. Oxy will continue to engage with the regional environmental authority Corporinoquia and the Colombian Ministry of Environment to monitor the sustainability of the reforested area.

A Year of Flowers in Qatar

To promote flora awareness and preservation in Qatar, Oxy sponsored a 2011 calendar that provides a year-long bouquet of photographs and information. The calendar was produced for A Flower Each Spring, a program of Qatar’s Friends of the Environment Center (FEC) under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned.

The calendar, which features two flowers at risk of extinction, supports the FEC’s efforts to raise awareness of biodiversity in Qatar. FEC programs emphasize research, preservation of natural resources and the importance of sustainable development.

A Flower Each Spring annually selects a local flower to promote through a nationwide educational campaign for schoolchildren and the general public. Activities include field trips, art projects and competitions. With 2010 marking the 12th year of the program, Oxy Qatar proposed a creative way of showcasing the dozen flowers for a broader audience. The idea blossomed into the beautifully illustrated “Native Flowers of Qatar” calendar, produced with funding from Oxy.

Available throughout Qatar, the calendar has been provided to all schools in the capital city of Doha and is given to attendees at regional exhibitions. Approximately 3,000 copies have been distributed through FEC and the Qatar Foundation.

Each month features a different indigenous flower of Qatar. For example, February’s flower is Anagallis Arvensis, which blooms with five deep blue or red-orange petals; July’s is the flowering tree Prosopis Cineraria with its yellow-green petals; and in September, the calendar features Alhagi Maurorum, known as the “Camel Thorn,” whose small maroon flowers extend from sharp yellow spines.

Picture: Oxy developed a 2011 calendar to promote the preservation of Qatar’s native flowers through the environmental program, A Flower Each Spring.

Collaborative Leadership

Oxy recognizes that the knowledge and expertise of its personnel can contribute meaningfully to improvements in HES and social responsibility performance throughout all industries and with businesses of all sizes. Accordingly, Oxy comments on proposed legislation and regulations, participates in the development of industry standards, and shares our knowledge in business and community forums.

As one example, Oxy is engaged as detailed GHG rules are developed. Though we do not support geographically-limited or sector-based approaches to regulating GHG emissions (See SR Report at p. 12), Oxy has been active in programs developed to implement California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Oxy was the first upstream oil and gas producer in the state to join the voluntary California Climate Action Registry. This work formed the foundation for Oxy's GHG emission reports in 2009, when mandatory reporting was required by the State. In addition, Oxy has responded to the Carbon Disclosure Project's survey about GHG emissions every year since its inception in 2003.

Oxy continues to play a leading role in the development of regulations related to CO2 injection and geologic sequestration. At the federal level, we worked as part of a group of companies, industry associations and environmental organizations during 2009 to analyze and recommend enhancements to a proposed EPA regulation on CO2 injection. This effort, which continued in 2010, is unique in the extent of collaboration and agreement among industry and environmental groups on important aspects of the proposed rule.

Leveraging this experience, Oxy and many of the same parties worked together on an important effort in Texas that provides a legal framework for injection and long-term sequestration of CO2 into geologic formations that may contain oil and gas. A coalition of industry and environmental groups jointly advocated on aspects of the "Capture, Injection & Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide Act" (SB 1387), which was signed into law in 2009. The most comprehensive CO2 sequestration bill passed to date in any state, it establishes many important precedents that facilitate CO2 EOR operations. The collaborative work in 2010 focused on developing detailed implementing regulations.

See "C02 Sequestration in Texas" video in the Media Library.

Oxy Qatar Enhances Environmental Awareness

Oxy Qatar was among the oil and gas companies sponsoring the third Qatar Petroleum Environmental Fair, a three-day event to promote awareness of environmental issues. More than 3,000 Qatari schoolchildren and other visitors attended the event in 2010.

Reflecting the fair’s slogan — “We Are All Responsible” — Oxy Qatar created interactive activities to promote environmental responsibility. A display with four panels suggested different ways to protect the environment: reuse shopping bags, pick up trash, turn off the light when leaving a room, and conserve water resources. Visiting students were encouraged to sign the panels with their own messages about protecting the environment.

Oxy Qatar also provided a painting area for the schoolchildren and distributed a variety of promotional materials such as T-shirts, caps, reusable shopping bags, beach toys and puzzles, all bearing the fair’s message on environmental responsibility.

Oxy Volunteers Have a Blooming Good Time at Houston Wildflower Planting

Joining one of Houston’s most colorful autumn traditions, more than 40 Oxy Human Resources staff and family members took part in the fourth annual Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Tribute Planting on September 18, 2010. The event was sponsored by the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, which provided seeds, instruction and guidance as volunteers from Oxy and other local companies devoted a morning to beautifying their city.

Oxy volunteers planted wildflower seeds in designated areas around the cloverleaf at Memorial Drive and Waugh Drive, near Spotts Park in Houston. Including family members and friends, the Oxy contingent ranged in age from 7 months to 63 years, making this a true family event.

The annual wildflower planting event honors Lady Bird Johnson, known as “the environmental First Lady,” who with actress Helen Hayes founded the National Wildflower Research Center in 1982. It was later renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. According to the center, wildflowers not only add beauty to the landscape, but help to conserve natural resources because they require less water and no fertilizer.

Oxy Colombia Leads Rescue of Pink River Dolphins

In January 2010, Oxy Colombia led a successful mission to rescue four pink river dolphins, or toninas, trapped in a shallow bank of the Caño Limón River near Oxy’s Llanos Norte operations.

When the toninas became wedged in the riverbank during a harsh summer, the neighboring community turned to Oxy for help. Oxy immediately contacted the Omacha Foundation — experts in the study and conservation of aquatic species native to the Llanos region of Colombia — to organize and monitor a rescue operation in concert with regional environmental authority Corporinoquia and the Colombian Ministry of Environment.

In addition, Oxy-supported foundation El Alcaraván assisted with the process of protecting and strengthening the toninas prior to their transport to the Arauca River, 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from the riverbank. El Alcaraván hired local fishermen to help with the toninas’ care and purchased fish to feed to the trapped dolphins.

Engaging scientific and environmental experts, governmental authorities and the local community, the collaborative rescue effort highlighted Oxy’s commitment to community engagement and protecting biodiversity.

See "Oxy Colombia Leads Rescue of Pink River Dolphins" video in the Media Library.