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PBR » Topics » Health, Safety and Environmental Initiatives

This excerpt taken from the PBR 20-F filed May 22, 2009.
Health, Safety and Environmental Initiatives
 
The protection of human health and the environment is one of our primary concerns, and is essential to our success as an integrated energy company. We have created a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Management Committee composed of executive managers of our business units and directors of our subsidiaries BR Distribuidora, Transpetro and Petrobras Biocombustível. The Committee’s work is supported by four commissions and four subcommissions as well as by temporary work groups, each responsible for a specific HSE issue, such as licensing and environmental compensation, emissions and climate change and health management.


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We have also created an Environmental Committee composed of three members of our board of directors. This committee’s responsibilities include: (i) overseeing and managing environmental and work safety issues affecting us; (ii) establishing measurable environmental targets and ensuring compliance; and (iii) recommending changes in environmental, health and safety policy, if necessary, to our board of directors. The Environmental Committee charter is awaiting approval by our board of directors.
 
Our actions to address health, safety and environmental concerns and ensure compliance with environmental regulations include:
 
  •     PEGASO program to upgrade pipelines and other equipment, implement new technologies, improve our emergency response readiness, reduce emissions and residues and prevent environmental accidents. From April 2000 to December 2008, we spent approximately U.S.$5,003 million under this program, including the Programa de Integridade de Dutos (Pipeline Integrity Program) through which we conduct inspections of, and improvements to, our pipelines. In 2008, we spent approximately U.S.$355 million in connection with the PEGASO program;
 
  •     new HSE policy and corporate guidelines, which focus on principles of sustainable development, compliance with legislation and environmental performance indicators;
 
  •     ten environmental protection centers and thirteen advanced bases for oil spill prevention, control and response, local and regional, onshore and offshore oil spill contingency plans involving public services and communities, three dedicated oil spill recovery vessels (OSRVs) fully equipped for oil spill control and fire fighting;
 
  •     ISO 14001 (environment) and OHSAS 18001 (health and safety) certification of our operating units. As of December 2008, Petrobras held 38
 
certificates for its operating units in Brazil and units abroad. Because some of those certificates cover more than one site, the total number of certified sites is 183 in Brazil and 20 abroad. The Frota Nacional de Petroleiros (National Fleet of Vessels) has been fully certified by the IMO International Management Code for Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code) since December 1997;
 
  •     regular and active engagement with the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy and IBAMA, including negotiating new environmental compensation regulations and discussing environmental issues connected with new gas pipelines, oil and gas production projects and other aspects of our operations.
 
  •     a new “Climate Change” strategic project, which aims to implement the highest standards in the energy industry regarding greenhouse gas management. By reducing the environmental impact of our operations, we will contribute to our sustainability and mitigate global climate change.
 
In addition, we conduct environmental studies for all new projects as required by Brazilian environmental legislation, and our HSE department evaluates every project with a total budget exceeding U.S.$25 million to confirm its compliance with all HSE requirements and adoption of the best HSE practices throughout the project’s life cycle.
 
In 2008, we experienced oil spills totaling 115,179 gallons of crude oil, compared to 101,970 gallons of crude oil in 2007 and 77,402 gallons in 2006.
 
We continue to evaluate and develop initiatives to address HSE concerns and to reduce our exposure to HSE risks.
 
This excerpt taken from the PBR 20-F filed Jun 30, 2005.

Health, Safety and Environmental Initiatives

 

Initiatives

 

The protection of human health and the environment is one of our primary concerns, and is essential to our success as an integrated oil, gas and energy company. In order to address and prioritize health, safety and environmental concerns and ensure compliance with environmental regulations, we have:

 

  •   developed the PEGASO program to upgrade our pipelines and other equipment, implement new technologies, improve our emergency response readiness, reduce emissions and residues and prevent environmental accidents. From January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2004, we spent approximately U.S.$3.0 billion under this program, including through the Programa de Integridade de Dutos (Pipeline Integrity Program) through which we conduct inspections of, and improvements to, our pipelines. In 2004, we spent approximately U.S.$594 million in connection with the PEGASO program;

 

  •   proposed the execution of, or entered into, environmental commitment agreements with several environmental protection agencies and/or the federal or state public ministries, in which we agree to undertake certain measures in order to complete the environmental licensing for several of our operating facilities;

 

  •   integrated our corporate health department into the already existing corporate environment and safety department, thereby facilitating the development of systematic, company-wide procedures to handle concerns related to health, safety and the environment, or HSE.

 

  •   established our new HSE policy and corporate guidelines, which focus on principles of sustainable development, compliance with legislation and the availability and use of environmental performance indicators;

 

  •   undertaken capital investments to reduce the HSE risk of our operations, including making improvements to our refineries and transportation facilities and developing and implementing oil pollution prevention guidelines;

 

  •   built nine environmental protection centers and seven advanced bases for oil spill prevention, control and response, established local and regional onshore and offshore contingency plans to deal with oil spills and chartered three dedicated oil spill recovery vessels (OSRVs) fully equipped for oil spill control and fire fighting;

 

  •  

received HSE certificates for all our operating units. By December 2004, 57 operating units, 33 in Brazil and 24 abroad, had been certified by the management systems standards ISO 14001 (environment), and BS 8800 or OHSAS 18001 (health and safety), and the Frota Nacional de Petroleiros (National Fleet of Vessels) has been fully certified by the IMO International Management Code for Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (ISM Code) since December 1997). With the integration of our management

 

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processes, which is currently being implemented, we will obtain only one ISO 14001 and one OHSAS 18001 certificate for all our Brazilian refineries, fertilizer plants and two downstream corporate units. We expect to obtain such certificate in September 2005;

 

  •   developed the Programa de Segurança de Processo (Process Safety Program) to implement standardized, company-wide guidelines of HSE, effectively investigate incidents and strengthen our institutional commitment to HSE through employee training. As part of this program, we have created a HSE Management Manual;

 

  •   developed an Air Emissions Management System, in conjunction with an international consulting company, for our operations in Brazil and South America. The system gathers information about emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, the main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and other chemicals, allowing us to improve the management of our emissions;

 

  •   participated in negotiations conducted by the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy of new regulations of environmental compensation related to the implementation of new projects;

 

  •   participated with the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy and IBAMA in a governmental body created to supervise the implementation of the new planned gas pipelines;

 

  •   participated regularly in the discussion agenda of the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy and the Ministry of the Environment about environmental issues affecting our business;

 

  •   developed and implemented programs to promote the use of renewable energy. In 2004, our Strategic Plan allocated 0.5% of our total capital expenditures to investments in these programs, which included: (1) a pilot wind power plant with an installed capacity of 1.8MW in the State of Rio Grande do Norte; and (2) solar panels to heat water for dressing-rooms at the Gabriel Passos Refinery in Minas Gerais, among others.

 

In addition, we conduct environmental studies for all new projects as required by Brazilian environmental legislation, and our HSE department evaluates each and every project with a total budget exceeding U.S.$25 million to confirm its compliance with all HSE requirements.

 

We will continue to evaluate and develop initiatives to address HSE concerns and to reduce our exposure to HSE risks.

 

Management

 

We have a HSE Management Committee, which was created by our executive officers to ensure that HSE issues are addressed throughout the company. The committee is composed of executive managers of our different business segments and of directors of our controlled companies. The work of the HSE Management Committee is supported by three permanent subcommittees, two temporary commissions and one temporary work group, each one responsible for a specific HSE issue, such as licensing and environmental compensation and risk assessment.

 

We have also created an Environmental Committee, which is composed of three members of our Board of Directors, including our Chairman and our Chief Executive Officer. The committee is responsible for, among other things: (1) overseeing and managing environmental and work safety issues affecting us; (2) establishing measurable environmental targets and ensuring compliance; and (3) recommending changes in environmental, health and safety policy, if necessary, to our board of directors. The Environmental Committee charter is still subject to approval by our Board of Directors.

 

EXCERPTS ON THIS PAGE:

20-F
May 22, 2009
20-F
Jun 30, 2005

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