By Jennifer Hiller
HOUSTON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp plans to setgreenhouse gas emissions targets and tie executive compensationand rank-and-file bonuses to the reductions, the oil major saidin its latest climate report released on Thursday.
The move is a first for a U.S. oil major and focuses on thecompany's oil fields. More investors have been pressuring SanRamon, Calif.-based Chevron and other big oil companies toreduce emissions that contribute to climate change.
Chevron said that by 2023, it will reduce its methane andflaring intensity by 25 percent to 30 percent from 2016 levels,and said the goal would be added to the scorecard thatdetermines incentive pay for around 45,000 employees.
"It’s about the mindset and the culture of the company,"said Chevron Vice President Mark Nelson, noting that includingmost of its global workforce would "harness" ideas from allemployees.
Among other oil companies, London-based BP andFrance's Total have set short-term targets on reducingcarbon dioxide emissions from to their own operations.
Royal Dutch Shell in December announced it wouldlink executive compensation to reducing carbon dioxide emissionsstarting in 2020, including so-called Scope 3 emissions fromfuels sold to customers around the world.
Chevron's report said it does not support establishing Scope3 targets.
Exxon's latest climate report, published on Tuesday,includes a goal of reducing methane emissions from operations by15 percent and flaring by 25 percent by 2020 compared with 2016levels, as well as reducing greenhouse gas intensity at itsCanadian oil sands facilities by 10 percent by 2023.
Chevron's target aims to reduce emissions and flaring as apercentage of production, but does not set a goal for totalemissions - a measure that activist investors prefer. Thetargets will apply to Chevron's operations as well as jointventures or assets it has a stake in but does not operateitself, the company said.
Methane, the main component of natural gas, is colorless andodorless, and has more than 80 times the heat trapping potentialof carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it escapes intothe atmosphere, scientists say.
Methane can leak from oilfield equipment and pipelines, oris flared or vented during maintenance work, and when new oilwells are added in areas that don't have natural gas pipelines.(Reporting by Jennifer Hiller; Editing by David Gregorio)
