Performance highlights

Goal 2018

TRCF ≤ 0.7

Achieve total recordable case frequency (TRCF) – the number of injuries per million working hours – of 0.7 or below for employees and contractors.

Goal Zero has been our ambition for personal safety since 2007.

Progress in 2018

Total recordable case frequency (TRCF)

The TRCF increased slightly to 0.9 compared with 0.8 in 2017, which was our lowest ever performance (see Safety performance).

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to focus on our three safety themes of care, dilemmas and risk normalisation in engagements with employees and contractors.
• In road safety, continue to focus on effective implementation of proven practices across all lines of business, with an emphasis on improving management of fuel transport in high-risk countries. 
• Support the development and implementation of common industry safety standards.
• Improve our capabilities to learn from audit findings and investigations into incidents with the potential to cause harm.

Goal 2018

Leaks ≤ 125

Reduce the number of operational leaks to 125 or below (classified as “operational Tier 1 & 2 process safety events”).

Since 2011, we have extended our ambition of Goal Zero to process safety.

From 2017, we combined operational Tier 1 & 2 safety events when setting the target. Previously, we only used Tier 1 events.

Progress in 2018

Number of operational process safety Tier 1 and 2 events

The number of Tier 1 and 2 operational process safety events fell from 166 in 2017 to 121 in 2018 (see Safety performance).

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to focus on asset integrity and quality of operational execution by, among other things, embedding our Process Safety Fundamentals and the roll out of a group-wide asset management system.
• Continue to improve learning from process safety events with high potential impact.

Goal 2018

Goal Zero extends to the environment with our goal of no operational spills.

Progress in 2018

Volume of operational spills in ‘000 tonnes

The number of operational spills fell from 104 in 2017 to 92 in 2018. The volume of operational spills of oil and oil products in 2018 was 0.8 thousand tonnes, an increase from 0.4 thousand tonnes in 2017 (see Environmental performance).

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to learn from incidents with spills to improve the reliability of our facilities and further reduce the number and volume of operational spills.
• Continue to work with the oil and gas industry to further develop effective oil-spill response capacities.

Goal 2018

Reduce flaring in our upstream business.

Our policy is to reduce flaring and venting to as low a level as is reasonably practical.

We are a signatory of the World Bank’s Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 initiative.

Progress in 2018

Upstream flaring in million tonnes CO₂ equivalent [A]

[A] Includes Upstream and Integrated Gas

Our upstream flaring decreased to 5.2 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2018 from 8.2 million tonnes in 2017 (see Flaring).

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to link staff bonuses to the management of greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Further embedding the guiding principles for reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain, which Shell and seven other energy companies signed in November 2017.
• Continue to focus on maintenance measures to enhance the reliability of our equipment and reduce emissions through leaks.

Goal 2018

Upstream and Integrated Gas GHG intensity ≤ 0.164

For our Upstream and Integrated Gas facilities, achieve a GHG intensity of 0.164 tonnes or below of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of hydrocarbon production available for sale.

Progress in 2018

Upstream and Integrated Gas: tonnes CO₂e per tonne of hydrocarbon production available for sale

Our Upstream and Integrated Gas intensity was 0.158 tonnes CO₂ equivalent per tonne of hydrocarbon production available for sale in 2018 compared to 0.166 in 2017.

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to link staff bonuses to the management of greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Further embedding the guiding principles for reducing methane emissions across the natural gas value chain, which Shell and seven other energy companies signed in November 2017.
• Continue to focus on maintenance measures to enhance the reliability of our equipment and reduce emissions through leaks.

Goal 2018

Refinery GHG intensity ≤ 1.05

For our refineries, reduce GHG intensity to 1.05 tonnes or below of CO₂ equivalent per Solomon’s Utilised Equivalent Distillation Capacity [UEDC]

Progress in 2018

Refineries: tonnes CO₂e per Solomon’s Utilised Equivalent Distillation Capacity [UEDC]

Refinery GHG intensity in 2018 was 1.05 tonnes CO₂e per UEDC compared to 1.14 in 2017.

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to link staff bonuses to the management of greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Continue to focus on maintenance measures to enhance the reliability of our equipment and reduce emissions through leaks.

Goal 2018

Chemical GHG intensity ≤ 0.97

For our chemical plants, reduce GHG intensity to 0.97 tonnes or below of CO₂ equivalent per tonne of high-value petrochemicals produced.

Progress in 2018

Chemicals: tonnes CO₂e per tonne of petrochemicals produced

Chemical GHG intensity was 0.96 tonnes CO₂ equivalent per tonne of high value chemicals produced in 2018 compared to 0.95 in 2017. 

Priorities in 2019

• Continue to link staff bonuses to the management of greenhouse gas emissions. 
• Continue to focus on maintenance measures to enhance the reliability of our equipment and reduce emissions through leaks.

Goal 2018

Effective community feedback.

Our community feedback mechanism (CFM) has been used to address community concerns since 2012. We continue to progress the implementation of our standard online community feedback tool, which helps to strengthen tracking and reporting of concerns.

Progress in 2018

We conducted a full evaluation of our online community feedback tool to understand how it has been used across our projects and facilities.

Following the evaluation, we identified a number of areas for improvement, which are now being considered to enhance the tool.

We developed the CFM self-check to assess the effectiveness of the mechanism for implementation in all major facilities and projects. The check is based on UN Guiding Principles and Human Rights criteria.

(see Social performance).

Priorities in 2019

• Enhance the online community feedback tool, based on the improvement areas we identified in 2018, such as user friendliness to ensure short response times. The improvements help to ensure we are able to effectively receive, assess and support assets and projects to respond quickly to concerns.
• Identify further improvement opportunities from the self-check exercise for an effective implementation of CFM.