Environment
Download Penn West's 2008 Community and Values Report - The Environment
Penn West Energy Trust is committed to minimizing the environmental impacts from oil and natural gas operations, and to involving stakeholders throughout the exploration, development, production and abandonment processes. Penn West's environmental programs encompass resource conservation, stakeholder communication, carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration and site abandonment/reclamation.
The Trust's continuing policy is to meet or exceed all provincial and federal laws, regulations and standards pertaining to the environment. Penn West's Environmental Policy and Environmental Management Plan cover air, water, soil and waste issues associated with industry operations. The Trust's Environmental Operation Guidelines are used to train Penn West's employees in the Environmental Management Plan's implementation in relation to the Trust's day-to-day operations.
The Trust continues to implement its long-term liability management programs, such as well abandonment, facility abandonment, remediation, and reclamation. Under this program, Penn West evaluates inactive wellbores and facilities to determine whether they can be economically reactivated or whether they should be abandoned and reclaimed. Penn West's liability management programs also include auditing of field facilities such as oil batteries, compressor stations and natural gas processing plants.
As a Trust that periodically acquires producing assets, Penn West is conscious of the need to perform due diligence related to environmental performance and regulatory compliance on any prospective acquisition.
Penn West continues to maintain its Gold Level Status in the Canadian GHG Challenge Registry (formerly the Voluntary Challenge and Registry), a cooperative effort by industry, government and environmental organizations to identify and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2. Penn West continued to be an active Platinum Level participant in the Environment, Health and Safety Stewardship Program initiated by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). The Trust's level of participation in these programs is the highest attainable.
In 2007, Penn West joined the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an undertaking that answers a collective request from global institutional investors. The CDP provides global coverage of the world’s largest publicly traded companies on stock exchanges around the world. The 2009 CDP questionnaire was endorsed by 475 investment companies and organizations with a total of US$55 trillion under management. Penn West is one of 15 listed issuers on the TSX, of which four were in the upstream energy sector, recognized for the quality of their GHG emissions disclosure and goals. This is the third year in a row that Penn West has received this distinction. To view the full 2009 Carbon Disclosure Project report, click here or visit the CDP website.