Scope of the Assurance
Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance, Inc. (LRQA) was engaged by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to assure the reporting processes used in the creation of Chevron's 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report ("the Report"). The objectives of the review were to validate the integrity of Chevron's reporting processes and to evaluate consistency with the IPIECA/API Oil and Gas Industry Guidance on Voluntary Sustainability Reporting (2010). LRQA has reviewed Chevron's Corporate Responsibility Report reporting processes since 2008 (for the 2007 Corporate Responsibility Report).
The LRQA scope of assurance was limited to processes for the reporting of health, environmental and safety (HES) performance indicators. Verification of the accuracy of data and information was not included in the assurance scope. The Report has been prepared and approved by Chevron management, who are solely responsible for the collection, presentation, and accuracy of all data and information contained within it.
Approach
LRQA's assurance approach was risk-based and undertaken as a sampling exercise. It covered the following activities:
- Visiting Chevron's Global Upstream and Gas facility in Midland, Texas, and Chevron's Downstream refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, to assess local understanding and implementation of Chevron's HES reporting requirements.
- Visiting Chevron's Downstream and Chemicals headquarters in San Ramon, California, to assess business unit understanding and implementation of Chevron's HES reporting requirements.
- Interviewing key personnel to identify and gain an understanding of Chevron's reporting requirements.
- Reviewing the documented reporting requirements to validate consistency of scope, definition and reporting for each of the HES performance indicators.
- Reviewing the processes used at the corporate level to aggregate data and information for inclusion in the final report.
Conclusions and Findings
To form our conclusions, LRQA obtained sufficient evidence considered necessary for us to give limited assurance of Chevron's HES reporting processes. Based on the scope of the assurance and the data and information presented for review, nothing has come to our attention that would cause LRQA not to believe that Chevron's reporting process is effective in delivering HES indicators for the purpose of evaluating and communicating corporate performance in these areas.
Our other conclusions:
- Processes are in place that ensure that sites contributing to core HES metrics understand corporate reporting procedures and requirements.
- The methods to be used for calculating each HES performance metric are clearly defined and communicated.
- Chevron's reporting requirements for HES metrics are understood and carried out. Data collected at the site/local and business unit levels are checked and aggregated into corporationwide metrics.
- Responsibility for annually reviewing and updating reporting guidelines is clear, with improvement in methodology regularly undertaken.
- Chevron's reporting process is effective in delivering HES indicators that are useful for assessing corporate performance and reporting information consistent with IPIECA/API/OGP Oil and Gas Industry Guidance on Voluntary Sustainability Reporting (2010).
Observations and areas for potential improvement are provided in a report to Chevron management. These observations do not affect our conclusions.
Andrea Bockrath
On behalf of Lloyd's Register
Quality Assurance, Inc.
March 24, 2011
Third-Party Liability LRQA, its affiliates and subsidiaries and their respective officers, employees or agents are, individually and collectively, referred to in this clause as the "Lloyd's Register Group." The Lloyd's Register Group assumes no responsibility and shall not be liable to any person for any loss, damage or expense caused by reliance on the information or advice in this document or howsoever provided unless that person has signed a contract with the relevant Lloyd's Register Group entity for the provision of this information or advice, and, in that case, any responsibility or liability is exclusively on the terms and conditions set out in that contract.
LRQA's Competence and Independence LRQA ensures the selection of appropriately qualified individuals based on a rigorous appraisal of their training, qualifications and experience. The team conducting the assurance of the Report was multidisciplinary and has been involved in assurance assessments from the outset of external verification of nonfinancial performance reports. LRQA's internal systems have been designed to manage and review assurance and certification assessments. This involves independent review by senior management of the outcome derived from the process applied to the assurance of corporate reports
Independence of LRQA From Chevron LRQA and Chevron operate as discrete and independent legal entities. LRQA provides Chevron with third-party attestation assessment services to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 as well as certification assessment services to other ISO standards. The assurance, attestation and certification assessment services are the only work undertaken by LRQA for Chevron.
Conflict of Interest LRQA is part of the Lloyd's Register Group. Lloyd's Register Group entities recognize that potential conflicts of interest may exist that could have an impact on its independent assurance and certification activities. Lloyd's Register Group entities are committed to identifying and managing such conflicts so that they do not adversely affect its independence and impartiality. To protect the integrity, neither LRQA nor any other Lloyd's Register Group entity will provide services that create a conflict and compromise the independence and impartiality of third-party assurance and certification. The Lloyd's Register Group entities will never verify their own solutions to a customer's problem.
Updated: May 2011