California Resources publishes new ESG strategy
California Resources Corp (CRC), an independent oil, gas and electricity producer, has marked Earth Day by revealing an expanded set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.
CRC said on April 22 that the new ESG goals would help reduce GHG emissions, as well as methane emissions and freshwater consumption. Executive remuneration will be linked to ESG performance, encouraging expanded diversity in its leadership, community engagement and increased accountability.
It comes after CRC revealed a new net zero strategy aimed at carbon neutrality in scope 1,2 and 3 categories by 2045 - the same year as California's state-wide net zero objective.
Key to that ambition is a carbon capture and storage plant that CRC is building at its 550MW Elk Hills power plant, to redistribute carbon into the associated Elk Hills oil field. It says CO2 injection into Elk Hills oil formations should cut the field's life cycle GHG emissions by 50%.
CEO Mac McFarland noted the US Department of Energy has agreed CCS will be necessary to reduce global emissions across human society, in line with assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency.
"CRC's ESG goals demonstrate our commitment to the energy transition, and we are proud that CRC successfully continues on a path to provide safe and reliable low carbon intensity fuel and develop CCS and other emissions reducing projects," McFarland said.
CRC also wants to reduce methane emissions by 30% by the end of this decade, using its 2020 record as a baseline, and hopes to use 30% less freshwater by 2025 compared with 2022 levels.