Enviornment

Delivering on our promise

Our core mission drives us to help improve the quality of life in the areas where we operate, through both our operations and our Social Performance activities. We also invest in high-level global events that aim to promote cleaner energy and social sustainability in our region.

Our commitment to the UN SDGs:

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 01 By prioritising local employment and procurement we create shared prosperity, and growth in the areas where we operate.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 04 We support capacity building and promote career readiness skills across the MENA region.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 09 We are committed to the economic growth and infrastructural development of the areas where we operate.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 11 Our Social Performance function aims to raise the quality of life of local communities.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 03 Health and wellness are integral to our Health, Safety, Security, and Environment (HSS&E).
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 07 We have consistently supported the transition to cleaner energy in the KRI since 2008.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 10 We are committed to inclusion of people of the determination* by championing them.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability SDG 17 We partner with community organisations to enhance the impact of our Social Performance activities, and with local suppliers to support local talents and economies.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report 2021

2019 and 2020 Highlights

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report 2021

Direct impact on the community

The natural gas we produce is transported by pipeline to power plants in the KRI, fuelling well over 80 per cent of the power generation in the region. By ensuring reliable supply of natural gas to the region we help the KRG deliver improved services to the region’s six million residents. In turn, our operations have helped improve the quality of life in the KRI, powering households and local industries, and stimulating economic growth. A detailed impact assessment study conducted by PwC on the Kurdistan Gas Project and sponsored by Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas determined that between 2008 and 2018 our operations saved the KRI approximately $25 billion by replacing diesel with natural gas, enabling improved electricity services and empowering the regional economy.

That impact became critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, as we completed the successful execution of the Khor Mor Plant By-Pass project, allowing us to achieve a new gas sales record of over 435 MMSCF/day.

Our teams adopted stringent health and safety measures to minimise the risks of COVID-19 infection and keep operations running smoothly, ensuring uninterrupted energy supply at a time when most people were confined to their homes. While we worked to ensure the health and safety of our employees, we also had to operate under stringent local laws and global guidelines that limited the movement of our people.

Preparing young people for the workforce

Our KRI Summer Training Programme 2019 welcomed 59 student trainees from various universities into departments like Operations, Maintenance, HSSE, Supply Chain, and Drilling. We tailored our training programme to each student’s career interests and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the trainees. We offered full-time employment opportunities to the two best-performing trainees.
We also participate in year-round career fairs to recruit young trainees and help connect the youth to the job market. In 2019, we participated in six career fairs in the KRI and UAE, and in 2020 we took part in an online career fair in the UAE.

Nurturing the next generation

We are committed to nurturing the region’s youth in our quest to build a more prosperous and inclusive future. As part of this commitment we provide year-round training opportunities to college students and fresh graduates, both in the UAE and the KRI, offering work experience and training to hone skills and make young talent more prepared to employment, including to Crescent Petroleum.

In 2019 we partnered with Edraak, the Arab world’s leading platform for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), to develop a series of open and free online career readiness courses to help bridge the gap between the skills acquired during school or university and those required by the labour market. The Career Readiness specialisation, which launched in April 2020, has delivered three successive online courses: English for the Workplace, Digital Literacy for the Workplace, and Business Essentials. The online certificate programme aims to equip job seekers with the basic communication and work skills required in the modern workplace. The programme, held in Arabic, had more than 235,000 people registered by October 2020, and is targeting a total of 500,000 registrations across the Middle East before its conclusion.

As policymakers and business leaders in the region tackle the challenges of youth unemployment, we believe it is critical to reinforce efforts to develop soft skills for the modern workplace. Our partnership with Edraak is an extension of our core mission of leveraging our understanding of the Middle East to promote cleaner energy and social sustainability.

Bahroz Testimonial

Investing in the local economy

We prioritise local talent whenever we can and favour local suppliers when possible to generate economic opportunities for communities across our operations. PwC determined that the capital investment in the first decade had an employment effect of 20,000 jobs, out of which 10,000 jobs were direct employment in the region.

In 2020 we engaged with 551 suppliers, both local and overseas. Spending on local suppliers fell to 40 per cent in 2020 compared to over 50 per cent in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As capital expenditure projects were put on hold due to the pandemic, reducing the procurement of building materials, hiring of construction equipment, and civil works and numerous other projects in which local suppliers predominate. In turn most procurement in 2020 focused on essential plant operations and supplies procured from overseas. As we resume normal operations and restart capital expenditure projects, we will continue to prioritise local hires and local procurement across all areas of operation.

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Graph

Leveraging Social Performance

The Social Performance (SP) function was established in 2018, building on the traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) function to deliver more strategic planning and greater impact. SP has worked to build deeper and more strategic relationships with stakeholders and helped to identify critical opportunities and programmes before they are needed to maximise our impact on all aspects of society, from education to the delivery of basic services to surrounding villages where we operate.

As part of this effort, we work to identify and evaluate opportunities aiming to create a virtuous cycle of progress and development. Detailed monitoring, planning, and execution in collaboration and coordination with the KRG helps us deliver programmes on a variety of budgets and levels.

The SP function aims to accomplish the following three key objectives:

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Graph

Social Performance impact

Our impact begins with us as a major employer in the KRI and Sharjah. Beyond our direct involvement, we are also an important contributor and to the communities that we serve. We take pride in how the communities around us have thrived and grown, as evidenced by better education, improved health outcomes, and rising incomes. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, our SP team remained engaged with the community, supporting with information and understanding about how to avoid infection, as well as with supplies of staple foods and protective supplies at various times.

Our stakeholders are the universe of individuals, organisations, and communities that can directly affect or be affected by our operations. We endeavour to address their needs and expectations as we engage with them at the international, corporate, and project levels. Each must be engaged in a targeted manner appropriate to their needs and timeframe.
Our key stakeholder groups and the respective mechanisms for engaging them.

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report

Empowering our communities

We firmly believe that supporting neighbouring communities to thrive and grow is pivotal to our business. Our SP initiatives strive to improve the quality of life in and around our operations by promoting healthcare, education, and the arts. They also strive to encourage social inclusion of people of determination, as well as internally displaced people (IDPs) and vulnerable children.
Our activities in 2019 and 2020 focused on bolstering the employability and self-sufficiency of the region’s youth, including those from marginalised communities. During those years we invested $4.16 million in the KRI and $3.82 million in Sharjah to support development in line with UN SDGs.

Major projects we undertook in 2019 and 2020:

Quality of life

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supplying 70,000 litres of potable water daily to over 700 people in Chemchemal and Shorsh in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supplying 70,000 litres of potable water daily to over 700 people in Chemchemal and Shorsh in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Repairing the road between Qadir Karam and Zarda as well as the roads connecting 16 villages in the area in 2019, benefitting 2,000 residents.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Delivering basic food staples to 265 families in Qadir Karam, Chemchemal, and Khor Mor in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Delivering 1,850 packages with staple food for families in Chemchemal and vicinities during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supplying electric power to the 1,435 residents of Qadir Karam and 5 villages surrounding Khor Mor plant in 2019 and 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supplying 13 off-grid villages of 1,400 inhabitants with 8,900 litres of diesel monthly to fuel local generators in 2019 and 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Providing 5,000 litres of fuel supply quarterly to the 36 residents of Turka village in 2019 and 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Implementing water supply projects in Sheikh Hameed, Taza Shar, Qadir Karam, Cham Shurkhaw, and Shorsh to provide 31,632 residents with potable water in 2019 and 2020.

Supporting efforts to tackle COVID-19 in the KRI

Crescent Petroleum, together with Dana Gas, has been a major supporter of the KRG in tackling the spread of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Early April we donated medical equipment to the Chemchemal Directorate of Health as part of their Stop COVID-19 campaign, including provision of two PCR testing machines, medical personal protection equipment (PPE), and viral transport media (VTM), among other pieces of medical equipment, to support prophylactic and diagnostic efforts. We also provided two ventilators, three patient monitors, six infusion pumps, and two pump stands for treatment of critical patients at a time when such equipment was especially scarce.

We also delivered care packages, including food and hygiene products, to 1,850 households surrounding our areas of operation in the Sulaymaniyah province.

We closely monitor public health developments in the region and seek to identify new opportunities to support the KRG’s anti-COVID-19 efforts.

Education and arts

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Refurbishing Zagros Preparatory School, Khor Mor Gawra Primary School, Sheikh Hameed School, Qadir Karam Primary and High School, and Qaitul Primary School in 2019, benefitting 750 schoolchildren.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Offering classroom equipment to Rokhana School and Media Primary School in 2019, benefitting 530 schoolchildren.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Helping expand the facilities of Gull Kindergarten in Chemchemal in 2019, benefitting 140 children.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supporting 18 teachers across new disciplines in Qadir Karam schools in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Employing 90 drivers to transport over 180 students from 21 villages to schools in Qadir Karam, Sheikh Hameed, and Takya Jabari in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring the 14th Sharjah Biennial, Leaving the Echo Chamber, held between March and June 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring the International Publishers Association’s Amman IPA Regional Seminar, Jordan, in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Partnering with Edraak, the Arab world’s largest MOOC portal, to launch The Career Readiness specialisation, which has benefitted over 235,000 learners in 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring Iraq Children Foundation to empower over 250 orphans and displaced children
in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supporting the American University of Sharjah’s (AUS) Iraq Public Leadership Program to nurture 25 aspiring leaders in 2019 and an additional 30 in 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring AUS’ institutional advancement events in 2019 and 2020, including the annual Alumni Reunion Dinner, Career Fair, and the Alumni and Corporate Sports Games.

Sponsoring the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019

Crescent Petroleum sponsored the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, which welcomed over 7,500 athletes with intellectual challenges from 200 countries of around the world.

The biennial event promotes inclusion and the empowerment of people of determination to enable them to reach their full potential. The UAE became the first Arab country to host the World Games, with 24 sporting competitions held across Abu Dhabi and Dubai in March 2019.

Crescent Petroleum helped organise multiple activities for the athletes, including hosting a dinner and art workshops in Sharjah, and taking part in the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. Several Crescent Petroleum employees also volunteered at the games, serving as ushers and guides, while others manned a booth to engage with the athletes.

“I volunteered at the Special Olympics to better understand and serve the people of determination,” said Mohammed Mohinuddin, a volunteer from our warehouse team. “They are immensely capable, and I would like to further support their inclusion in society.”
The Special Olympics celebrated the 2019 World Games as “one of the largest, most inclusive, most unified, most diverse, and most successful World Games” in its 51-year history.

Health and wellness

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Refurbishing ambulances and providing drivers to serve Qadir Karam Health Centre in the KRI in 2019, benefitting 2,500 people.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Refurbishing medical centres in Sheikh Hameed and Qadir Karam in 2020, benefitting 50 patients.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Distributing firefighting equipment in Qadir Karam in 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring AMAR International Charitable Foundation to deliver healthcare services and vocational training for over 16,000 Yazidi IDPs in the KRI in 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring 2nd and 3rd annual UAE Rare Disease Day organised by High Hopes Pediatric Therapy Center, February 2019 and February 2020.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring the 2nd annual paediatric cancer campaign in the UAE, Ana-vation by Friends of Cancer Patients, in which 180 schoolchildren participated, February to May 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring the 2nd biennial cancer fundraiser in the UAE, Relay for Life by Friends of Cancer Patients, November 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring breast and prostate cancers awareness campaigns in Iraq by Together Organization for Humanitarian Relief and Development, October to November 2020.

Empowering the people of determination

Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Sponsoring the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, in which over 7,500 athletes participated, March 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Participating in the Emirates NBD Unity Run, November 2019.
Crescent Petroleum Sustainability Report Icon Supporting Emirates Association for the Visually Impaired, Rashid Center for the Determined Ones, Awladouna Center for People with Disabilities, Special Needs Future Development Center, and Senses Residential and Day Care for Special Needs in 2019 and 2020.

Supporting clean energy and social sustainability

Our core mission of promoting cleaner energy and social sustainability underpins our support of initiatives that bring greater understanding of our industry and the region’s society and economy.

In 2019 and 2020 we engaged in numerous thought-leadership and policy programmes and energy events in two main streams: leadership in the energy transition and development of Iraq and the region.

Leading thought-leadership initiatives

We have supported key events focused on the future of energy and the low-carbon transition. These include:

Chatham House Sponsoring the Chatham House MENA Energy conference, January 2019.
SALT Participating in the inaugural SALT Conference Abu Dhabi in December 2019.
Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum Sponsoring the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum, January 2019 and January 2020.
Atlantic Council Sponsoring the Atlantic Council white paper, The Role of Oil and Gas Companies in the Energy Transition, January 2020.
East Mediterranean Gas Forum Participating in the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, August 2020.
Siemens Energy’s MEA Energy Week Participating in Siemens Energy’s MEA Energy Week, October 2020.
World Economic Forum Participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 2019 and 2020.
World Economic Forum Participating in the 17th World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, April 2019.
World Energy Council Congress Sponsoring the 24th World Energy Council Congress, September 2019.
Arab Forum for Environment and Development conference Sponsoring the 12th annual Arab Forum for Environment and Development conference, November 2019.
The Good Fight Against GHG Emissions Sponsoring The Good Fight Against GHG Emissions conference, September 2019..

Launch of the Crescent Ideas Forum at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum

In January 2020 Crescent Petroleum launched the Crescent Ideas Forum (CIF), a leadership roundtable aimed at engaging and educating decision makers in key issues affecting oil and gas and other industries in the Middle East region.

The inaugural Crescent Ideas Forum roundtable, titled – Empowering the Low Carbon Transition, hosted ministers, industry leaders, and senior officials from international organisations to discuss the carbon transition in the industry. The meeting also launched the white paper “The Role of Oil and Gas Companies in the Energy Transition,” sponsored by Crescent Petroleum and developed in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, outlining how energy companies can lead through the energy transition and help pave a path to lower carbon emissions around the world.

The Crescent Ideas Forum later hosted David Malpass, president of the World Bank in 2020, as well as HE Mohammad Barkindo and HE Dr Fatih Birol for The Outlook on Energy in a virtual gathering in Novermber.

Supporting Iraq’s growth and development

Atlantic Council Iraq Initiative Sponsoring the Atlantic Council Iraq Initiative in 2019 and 2020.
CWC Iraq Petroleum Conference Participating in the CWC Iraq Petroleum Conference in June 2019.
Powering Iraq Organising Powering Iraq’s Energy Future special panel event at the World Energy Council forum in
Abu Dhabi, September 2019.
Basra Megaprojects—Oil Participating in Basra Megaprojects—Oil, Gas & Environment Conference, October 2019.
Iraq Britain Business Council Autumn Conference Participating in the Iraq Britain Business Council Autumn Conference, December 2019.
Chatham House Sponsoring the Chatham House Iraq Initiative in 2019 and 2020.
Iraqi Environment and Health Society-UK Sponsoring the 8th Conference of the Iraqi Environment and Health Society-UK, February 2020.
Iraq Finance Expo Sponsoring Frontier Exchange’s Iraq Finance Expo, June 2020.
Iraq Oil and Gas Show Sponsoring the Iraq Oil & Gas Show, December 2020.

Sponsoring of the Chatham House Iraq Initiative

In 2019 we entered into a sponsorship agreement with Chatham House to support the Iraq Initiative, a fieldwork-based policy initiative that aims to support institution-building and policy development in Iraq to encourage stronger governance and policy and empower economic growth and development.

Our continued support in 2020 has enabled the initiative to facilitate high-profile engagements with policy makers in Iraq and decision-makers in London, Sulaymaniyah, and Mosul, most notably the hosting of President Barham Salih for a private breakfast reception followed by a keynote speech at Chatham House in June 2019, and the hosting of numerous ministerial delegations in person in 2019 and virtually in 2020.

Crescent Petroleum participated in two initiatives by the WEF to help the MENA region begin to address the socio-economic crises generated by the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • The Sustainable Development Impact Summit in September 2020, which laid a sustainable recovery roadmap for the region; and,
  • The Jobs Reset Summit in October 2020, which called for more inclusive employment practices and championed efforts like the Edraak Career Preparedness Specialisation sponsored by Crescent Petroleum.