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Climate Change and Energy

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Hess’ Climate Change Position

We support the Paris Agreement’s aim to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and have made a commitment to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on an equity basis by 2050. We believe climate risks can and should be addressed while at the same time meeting the growing demand for affordable, reliable and secure energy, which is essential to ensure a just and orderly energy transition that aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Governments, businesses and civil society must work together on cost effective policies to meet this dual challenge, and we support transparent carbon pricing as an economically efficient method to encourage the investments needed to accelerate decarbonization across all sectors of the economy while keeping energy affordable and secure. We review the climate positions of our major advocacy organizations on an ongoing basis, and in the event that those positions appear misaligned or become misaligned with Hess’ positions, we will share our viewpoint in an attempt to more closely align their position with ours.

 

Our company’s strategy is focused on high return resource growth, low cost of supply and industry leading cash flow while maintaining leadership in sustainability. Our climate strategy is closely aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and its implementation is led by senior members of our leadership team with oversight by our Board of Directors. Our Low Carbon Transition Framework details how we are addressing climate related risks, opportunities and actions in the areas of governance, strategy, risk management and metrics and targets consistent with the TCFD’s October 2021 guidance.

 

Our Board of Directors is climate change literate, and we periodically bring in subject matter experts to advise our Board on climate and other sustainability issues to be considered in the development of company strategies and policies. Our Board’s Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Committee, composed of independent directors, has a mandate to identify, evaluate, monitor and report to the full Board on climate change issues, trends, risks and opportunities. The EHS Committee is actively engaged in overseeing Hess’ sustainability practices and works alongside senior management to evaluate climate change risks and global scenarios in making strategic decisions. For example, the committee provided oversight during development of our plan to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions on an equity basis by 2050. Furthermore, the Board’s Compensation and Management Development Committee has linked executive compensation to advancing the company’s EHS and climate change goals.

 

Our business planning includes actions we will undertake to continue reducing our carbon footprint consistent with the Paris Agreement’s aim to limit global average temperature rise to well below 2°C. Our Board and senior leadership have set aggressive interim GHG reduction targets to drive these actions and to support our goal to reach net zero emissions. In addition to our ongoing emissions reduction efforts, and as an important part of our net zero commitment, Hess agreed to purchase high quality, independently verified REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation) carbon credits for a minimum of $750 million between 2022 and 2032 directly from the government of Guyana. Protecting the world’s forests and the important role they play as natural carbon sinks is foundational to the Paris Agreement’s aim of limiting the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and was one of the major commitments made at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties climate summit.

 

We offset 100% of the indirect Scope 2 emissions from our purchased electricity through the purchase of renewable energy certificates, with most of our current certificates coming directly from the electric cooperative which provides our power in basin, and we continue to look for further electrification opportunities to reduce our emissions.

 

As part of our sustainability commitment, we seek to fund innovation with the potential to mitigate societal emissions, including the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative, which aims to develop plants with larger root systems that are capable of absorbing and storing potentially billions of tons of carbon per year from the atmosphere.

 

We account for the cost of carbon in significant capital investment decisions. We conduct scenario planning that includes scenarios developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to test the resilience of Hess’ portfolio against a range of environmental policies and market conditions in a lower carbon economy. According to the IEA, the world is not investing enough to meet its future energy needs, and uncertainties over policies and demand trajectories create a strong risk of a volatile period ahead for energy markets. We tested Hess’ portfolio under three IEA scenarios from the 2022 World Energy Outlook, the Stated Policies Scenario, the Announced Pledges Scenario (APS) and the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario (NZE). We concluded that Hess can continue to monetize our reserves and deliver strong performance under a wide range of market conditions, including under the aggressive conditions assumed in the APS. Under the NZE, a normative scenario reflecting a narrow pathway for the global energy sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, we could still monetize most of our reserves. We also consider potential physical risks associated with climate change, such as heat stress, flooding, increased severity of storms and drought, for new projects and existing operations.

 

Hess’ strategic priorities – to grow our resource base, deliver a low cost of supply and generate industry leading cash flow growth while maintaining our industry leadership in environmental, social and governance performance and disclosure – are aligned with the energy transition needed to achieve the IEA’s APS and position us well for the coming decades.

Strategy and Targets

Hess executives have led the development and implementation of our Low Carbon Transition Framework, including our plan to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions on an equity basis by 2050. We are currently on track to surpass our 2025 targets for GHG emissions intensity, methane emissions intensity and zero routine flaring. Please see Emissions and Flaring Performance for details.


We expect that our commitments to reduce GHG and methane emissions intensity, eliminate routine flaring and purchase renewable energy will help us mitigate a significant portion of our current Scope 1 and 2 emissions profile. We also continue to examine additional opportunities to address our GHG emissions. These include increased energy efficiency from electrification of our operations, carbon capture and sequestration and deployment of advanced technologies that are not currently commercially viable or are still in development, in combination with the use of carbon credits – including those we have agreed to purchase from the government of Guyana.



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External Engagement, Commitments and Disclosure

We have taken a leading position in a number of climate related initiatives that address emissions reductions and measurement and reporting, including the ONE Future Coalition and The Environmental Partnership, and have contributed to the pursuit of technological innovation for enhanced leak detection and prevention through organizations like the Intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program in North Dakota. We collaborate with peers through our trade associations to share best practices, review and develop reporting guidance, promote standardization of reporting and support engagement on regulatory policies in development. We endorse voluntary initiatives such as the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative and the Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. We engage with key stakeholders, including government agencies, investors, private landowners and communities, on issues such as climate change and consider their feedback when reviewing enhancements to our annual reporting.


We participate in several voluntary initiatives related to climate change disclosure, and Hess has consistently been recognized as a leader in the oil and gas industry for the quality of our performance and our disclosure relating to sustainability.


In 2023, Hess once again achieved a Level 4 strategic assessment rating on a 1–4 scale by the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), a global initiative that assesses companies’ preparedness for the transition to a low carbon economy and their efforts to address climate change. The TPI complements and aligns with existing climate reporting initiatives and frameworks such as those of the TCFD.


We also achieved leadership status in CDP’s 2023 Global Climate Analysis, a position we have held for 15 consecutive years. CDP’s ranking recognizes our continued leadership in transparency and performance as we address climate related risks and opportunities. We obtained an A– by earning high marks in many of the leadership categories critical to the TCFD.


Read our latest CDP Climate Change Response 

Access our archived CDP Climate Change Responses

Access our response to the American Petroleum Institute Template for GHG Reporting

Hess Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol

The Hess GHG Inventory Protocol identifies and describes the processes and methodologies we use to calculate our GHG inventory and ensure its reliability and validity. The Hess GHG Inventory Protocol also establishes a set of acknowledged conventions and practices for the identification of GHG sources and supports the creation of a robust data collection system that ensures consistency, comparability and transparency in the GHG inventory.

Read the Hess Greenhouse Gas Inventory Protocol