Oxy uses energy to produce oil, gas and chemicals, to generate steam and electricity, and to conduct other business activities. To provide stakeholders with more information about how efficiently we use energy, we have updated our energy use index to measure overall energy intensity by the energy consumed to produce a unit of output from our oil and gas and chemical operations.
Growth in oil production through the implementation of improved oil recovery and EOR projects and changes in chemical manufacturing plant operating rates affect energy consumption. Oxy has been successful in controlling energy demand, as shown by the general downward trend in energy intensity per pound of production over the past five years.
Since 2008, Oxy’s sales of oil and gas have increased by more than 20 percent while energy consumption per barrel has remained essentially unchanged. This performance is significant since the energy demand per barrel of oil produced generally increases over time, as more intensive production methods, such as water and steam flooding and CO2 EOR, are used to recover oil and gas from existing fields. Energy efficiency improved in OxyChem due to higher operating rates in 2010.
Oxy’s efforts to enhance efficient use of energy include operating several natural gas-fired cogeneration facilities to supply power and steam for our oil and gas and chemical operations, implementing improved maintenance and operating practices, installing energy efficient equipment, electrifying well field operations that formerly utilized gas or diesel engines and pursuing opportunities to capture and sell natural gas that would otherwise be flared or vented. Oxy also has active vanpool and ridesharing programs at its major offices in Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas.