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Environmental data 2002-2011
  2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)                    
Direct total GHGs (million tonnes CO2 equivalent) [A] 74 76 69 75 82 88 93 101 102 96
Carbon dioxide (CO2) (million tonnes) 71 72 66 72 79 85 89 96 97 92
Methane (CH4) (thousand tonnes) 133 128 127 126 119 124 173 192 187 196
Nitrous oxide (N2O) (thousand tonnes) 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) (tonnes) 22 23 25 23 28 24 20 13 9 11
Indirect total GHGs (million tonnes CO2 equivalent) 10 10 9 n/c n/c n/c n/c n/c n/c n/c
Flaring [B]                    
Flaring (Upstream) (million tonnes CO2 equivalent) 10.0 10.4 7.8 8.8 9.7 14.3 20.8 24.6 24.1 20.6
Flaring (Upstream) (million tonnes hydrocarbon flared) 3.4 3.6 2.6 2.8 3.4 4.8 7.0 8.1 8.1 6.8
Nigeria [C] 2.0 2.4 1.9 2.3 2.5 3.7 5.8 6.6 6.4 5.2
Rest of world [D] 1.4 1.2 0.7 0.5 0.9 1.1 1.2 1.5 1.7 1.6
Energy intensity                    
Upstream excluding Oil Sands and GTL (gigajoules per tonne production) [E] 0.75 0.74 0.76 0.74 0.78 0.78 0.71 0.69 0.69 0.73
Oil Sands (gigajoules per tonne production) [F] 7.4 7.2 7.0 7.0 5.7 5.3 5.2 5.8 10.0 n/c
Refineries: Refinery Energy Index [G] 100.8 101.8 102.2 98.9 98.6 98.4 98.0 96.7 97.8 100.0
Chemical plants: Chemicals Energy Index 90.8 89.3 92.0 93.0 92.6 92.5 95.8 93.3 98.3 99.7
Acid gases and VOCs                    
Sulphur oxides (SOx) (thousand tonnes SO2) 136 139 141 175 212 233 226 247 257 240
Nitrogen oxides (NOX) (thousand tonnes NO2) 146 159 142 150 145 154 157 172 193 195
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (thousand tonnes) 111 133 126 130 148 185 199 213 226 324
Ozone-depleting emissions                    
CFCs/halons/trichloroethane (tonnes) 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.4 0.6 0.3 0.8 2.3 3.0 7.7
Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) (tonnes) [H] 11 21 24 26 27 35 35 42 44 57
Spills and discharges [I, J]                    
Sabotage spills – volume (thousand tonnes) [K] 1.6 3.0 14.0 6.5 3.4 1.9 1.5 1.1 0.9 2.5
Sabotage spills – number [K] 118 112 95 115 197 123 111 101 105 128
Operational spills – volume (thousand tonnes) [L] 6.0 2.9 1.4 8.8 3.5 3.9 3.4 3.4 5.0 4.2
Nigeria 5.3 0.7 0.3 7.1 1.6 1.4 0.1 0.0 0.4 0.2
Rest of world 0.7 2.2 1.1 1.7 1.9 2.5 3.3 3.4 4.6 4.0
Operational spills – number [M] 208 195 275 275 392 465 560 711 678 784
Nigeria [N] 64 32 37 42 52 41 63 48 48 66
Rest of world 144 163 238 233 340 424 497 663 630 718
Hurricane spills – volume (thousand tonnes) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.9 1.0 0.0 0.0
Oil in effluents to surface environment (thousand tonnes) 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.8 2.3 2.1 2.3 2.4
Water                    
Fresh water use (million cubic metres) 209 202 198 224 235 n/c n/c n/c n/c n/c
Waste disposal                    
Hazardous (thousand tonnes) 740 921 962 688 907 716 631 714 675 781
Non-hazardous (thousand tonnes) [O] 1,737 1,079 1,139 996 1,899 1,154 632 421 443 480
Total waste (thousand tonnes) 2,477 2,000 2,101 1,684 2,806 1,870 1,263 1,135 1,118 1,261

[A] Oil and gas industry guidelines (IPIECA/API/OGP) indicate that there are a number of sources of uncertainty that can contribute to the overall uncertainty of a corporate emissions inventory. CO2 equivalent is a term used to express the total emissions of the major greenhouse gases, including CO2, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons. We have updated our 2010 figures following recalculation of the data.

[B] We have updated our 2010 figures following recalculation of the data.

[C] Nigeria includes SPDC onshore operations (1.9 million tonnes flared in 2011) and SNEPCo offshore operations (0.1 million tonnes flared in 2011).

[D] Flaring from the start-up of the Pearl GTL plant in Qatar amounted to 0.4 million tonnes of hydrocarbon in 2011. Flaring in Iraq amounted to 0.3 million tonnes of hydrocarbon in 2011.

[E] Data reported in accordance with IPIECA/API/OGP guidelines. We have updated our figures following recalculation of the data.

[F] The data includes mining and upgrading operations. It does not include in situ production. We have updated our figures following recalculation of the data.

[G] Indexed to 2002; based on Solomon Associates Energy Intensity Index 2006 methodology.

[H] We have updated our 2010 figure following review of the data.

[I] All spill volumes and numbers are for spills over 100 kilograms.

[J] As of the end of March 2012, there were two spills under investigation in Nigeria that may result in adjustments to the 2011 data.

[K] All sabotage and theft related spills have occurred in Nigeria except in 2007 (0.7 thousand tonnes outside Nigeria) and 2006 (0.6 thousand tonnes outside Nigeria).

[L] A single spill at the Bonga field offshore Nigeria amounted to 4.8 thousand tonnes in 2011. Nigeria includes SPDC onshore operations and SNEPCo offshore operations.

[M] We have updated our 2010 figure following review of the data. The number of operational spills reported for 2004 and 2005 also contain a small number of hurricane spills.

[N] Nigeria includes SPDC onshore operations (63 operational spills in 2011) and SNEPCo offshore operations (1 operational spill in 2011).

[O] The increase in 2011 is due to disposal of water containing low levels of selenium in Canada.

n/c Not calculated.