Joint ventures
We often work in joint ventures with national and international energy companies. All of our business partners bring important skills and experiences to a joint venture.
When we operate a joint venture (JV), Shell’s health, safety, security, environment and social performance (HSSE & SP) Control Framework is applied, as well as the Shell General Business Principles and the Shell Code of Conduct. (See Living by our principles).
Non-operated ventures
More than half of Shell’s JVs are non-operated ventures. For these ventures, our Shell JV representatives and the Shell-appointed JV board directors encourage our partners to apply similar standards and principles as our own.
When these JVs implement our Control Framework, or a similar approach, we offer to support them by assuring the JV’s compliance. We also offer to review the effectiveness of the framework’s implementation, overseen by the JV’s Board of Directors.
If there is no such assessment, we periodically evaluate the health, safety, environment and community risks of the JV. If the JV is falling below expectations, plans will be put in place, in agreement with the other partners, to improve performance.
Learning from each other
Another advantage of working with our business partners – who are often located in different parts of the world – is that they offer an opportunity to share knowledge and insights and learn from each other’s experience. As a result we can work together to create better solutions that tackle specific social, environmental, safety or technical challenges.
For example, in Russia, our JV, Salym Petroleum Development (Shell interest 50%), has developed competence in social performance. It conducts structured and regular community engagements and applies a social impact assessment process. Its key priority areas with communities where it operates are education, healthcare and the development of small businesses.
The Brunei Shell Petroleum JV (Shell interest 50%) used our HSSE & SP Control Framework to carry out an assessment of the effects on the local ecosystem from using 3D seismic surveying. The assessment surveyed offshore and onshore areas in Brunei. Measures were put in place to reduce the impact of seismic surveying, including a biodiversity action plan that was created with Wetlands International to protect and conserve critical habitats, such as Brunei’s peat swamp forests.
In Brazil, our biofuels JV, Raízen, adopted Shell’s Goal Zero approach to implement safe practices across all its businesses, with the aim of achieving no incidents. In one crop year, Raízen recorded a 37% reduction from the previous year in the frequency of incidents that could have prevented employees from working. (See Personal, process and transport safety).
