Methodology of Environmental Transparency Rating of Oil and Gas Companies Operating in Russia, 2022

Objective

Contribute to efficient use of hydrocarbon resources, environmental protection, and conducting socially responsible business in Russia and Kazakhstan.

Tasks

1. Record the key indicators of the environmental performance of Russian oil and gas companies.
2. Compare the key players of the Russian oil and gas sector based on:
   • the level of environmental impact per unit of output;
   • the degree of openness and accessibility of environmentally relevant information;
   • the quality of environmental management, considering state requirements and best practices from around the world;
   • the frequency of violating environmental legislation during project implementation;
   • mineral resource efficiency.
3. Monitor the companies’ interannual dynamics on the indicators listed above.

Principles

• The rating is primarily based on the criteria formulated in the Joint Environmental NGO Requirements to the oil and gas sector.
• The methodology is discussed with all stakeholders.
• The assessment is performed for all segments, from production to processing, with separate numbers for production, transportation, and processing.
• The rating is based on publicly available information on the companies' activities. Publicly available information includes publicly available annual financial and environmental reports and reports on environmental protection (including regional ones); documents published on the company's official websites (including those of the company's subsidiaries and contractors) with links to the relevant pages in the website menu; interviews of the company's spokespeople for federal and regional media. If there is no publicly available information for a specific criterion, the company receives the lowest score for that criterion which affects its overall rating.
• The rating is calculated by a professional rating agency, selected during a competition.
• The companies are included in the ranking according to their volume of oil and gas production. The lower limit for Russian companies: oil production volume—2 million tons per year; oil transportation volume—30 million tons per year; oil, gas condensate, and petroleum products processing volume—8 million tons per year. The lower limit for companies in Kazakhstan: oil and gas condensate production—0.5 million tons per year.
• The rating is calculated annually, which helps monitor the dynamics of environmental indicators for different companies.

Background

• The project for creating an environmental transparency rating for Russian oil and gas companies was initiated by WWF-Russia and ;CREON Group in 2014. The rating for Russian companies has since been published annually.
• The results of the first Environmental Transparency Rating for Oil and Gas Companies in Kazakhstan were published in 2018. The rating was organized by WWF-Russia and CREON Group with the support of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and in partnership with UNEP Central Asia, CREON Capital, and National Rating Agency.
• In 2019, monitoring of emergencies and conflicts as part of the environmental transparency rating of oil and gas companies was included into the People for Nature project, carried out by WWF-Russia with the support of the European Union.