President’s Message
I’m pleased to share Vermilion’s 10th sustainability report with you, and to take a brief moment to reflect on how far we’ve come. When we released our first report in 2014, we did so because we believed it was the right thing to do.
It still is.
The focus a decade ago was primarily on transparency, but has evolved considerably since. Disclosure alone was first surpassed by an expectation around performance – how we were positioned on key indicators relative to our peers, and to our industry. Today, the focus is rightfully on ambition, on how we are contributing to solutions for what is being recognized as an energy trilemma: the need to balance energy security, affordability and sustainability.
The years since 2020 have shown us that the evolution of energy sources will not be easy or smooth. For companies like Vermilion, it’s important to make decisions about our future operations that consider all of our stakeholders — from our employees to our investors to our communities.
That’s why we previously set an aspirational target of net zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050. We’re spending much of this year working on a plan to get there. It’s abundantly clear that there’s no single solution; instead, we need to consider all of the options available to us.
We’ve chose to focus our plan on four pillars:
- Reduce emissions, with methane a priority.
- Convert higher emitting elements of our portfolio to lower intensity production, considering both divestment and end-of-life fields.
- Adapt our portfolio to new energy, considering carbon capture and storage, renewable energy associated with our core operations such as biogas, hydrogen and geothermal production, and other new technologies.
- Offset as a solution for the emissions that cannot be eliminated.
We’re excited about this work. There are many solutions that are making their way from inspiration to the laboratory bench to field pilots. I’m a firm believer in the power of technology, and can already see the increasing pace at which technology is offering ways to increase our operational efficiency while reducing our emissions.
We also recognize how interconnected climate issues are with the environment, particularly water and biodiversity, and we are focused on both, to ensure we are caring for our communities. Our Corrib Biodiversity Action Plans demonstrate best practice in this area, and I encourage you to check them out on our website, or review the research that the University of Western Australia is doing at our Wandoo offshore platform to learn more about the “rigs to reefs” effect that has increased marine biodiversity there.
Caring is something that I am consistently proud to see in our people, and this year has shown myriad examples of this. Our staff have hosted BBQs for local schools, gathered toys and more for holiday stockings, cleaned up riverbanks, planted trees, put together food and essential household items for hampers, and so much more. We’ve worked side-by-side to help people through the wild fires that occurred in north and central Alberta earlier this year, both on our well sites and in our communities, and we are pleased to continue to support the recovery efforts in these areas.
Which brings me back to this report. The data contained at the end of the report, in our performance metrics, is essential information. It provides a way for us track our progress and assess our performance. But even as the work of standardizing sustainability reporting grows, I believe that it’s the people behind the data that matter. And I am grateful to each and every member of our staff, who show such commitment and dedication to each other and the company throughout the year.
As always, thank you for reviewing our sustainability reporting, and I look forward to your comments or suggestions.
Sincerely,
