OREANDA-NEWS. May 18, 2012. Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) achieved one of the best safety records in the industry, reduced flaring and venting in its operations by 33 percent compared with 2003 levels, invested USD 209 million in communities where it operates, and spent more than USD 2.1 billion on goods and services from small U.S. businesses, according to the company's 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report, reported the press-centre of Chevron.

"Affordable energy is a cornerstone of human progress and economic prosperity," said Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer John Watson. "In producing and delivering energy, our goal is to ensure that our operations and social investments create measureable and enduring value to the communities where we operate."

Chevron's 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report highlights the company's performance in such areas as safety, environmental stewardship, health, education, economic development and human rights. Top achievements in the report include:

Chevron continued its strong workforce safety performance in 2011, maintaining its industry-leading rate of recordable injuries level from 2010 -- the best year for safety performance in the company's history. This success reflects Chevron's long-term commitment to continually reduce and eliminate all incidents and injuries, and implement specific initiatives such as company-wide process safety standards.
     
Chevron has taken significant steps to conserve energy resources, including commercializing previously flared natural gas and improving energy efficiency of its global operations by 34 percent since 1992.

Chevron invested over USD 200 million to support community programs around the world, with a focus on health, education and economic development.
  
Health: Chevron pledged USD 20 million over five years to support a global action plan to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Education: Chevron's Energy for Learning program has supported the education of thousands of children and adults in countries such as China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

Economic Development: The company launched the Chevron-Liberia Economic Development Initiative, delivering sustainable benefits to women, children and youths by helping to fund 36 projects in hospitals, vocational training centers, schools and communities.

Chevron's investments in local suppliers and contractors helped foster economic development in countries where it operates. In the United States last year, the company spent USD 2.1 billion with small businesses and over USD 800 million for goods and services with women- and minority-owned businesses.

Chevron continued its commitment to respecting global human rights. The company began global implementation of its Human Rights Policy to foster greater awareness of human rights issues throughout the company and enhance capabilities to manage them. The Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index gave Chevron a 100 percent rating for the seventh consecutive year.

In a recent Fortune Magazine survey of "The World's Most Admired Companies," Chevron ranked among the top 10 in social responsibility and first among peers in the petroleum refining industry.

The company's report contains compelling examples of significant initiatives from across the globe. One example is in Nigeria, where Chevron continued to provide jobs and sustainable economic development while fostering innovative multistakeholder partnerships and socioeconomic investment models. Chevron's Global Memorandum of Understanding program in the Niger Delta has delivered more than 200 projects in 425 communities, villages and chiefdoms benefiting some 850,000 people. Chevron launched the Niger Delta Partnership Initiative and announced a five-year, USD 50 million endowment, including a partnership with USAID, to build capacity and promote long-term economic sustainability.

Other examples of significant corporate responsibility activity include launching the Green Corridor Initiative in Indonesia to plant 250,000 trees over the next five years, partnering with organizations in Colombia to build health clinics and develop water wells to supply 100,000 people, and investing nearly USD 100 million in education across California and the United States between 2009 and 2011.

For more information on Chevron's corporate responsibility or the case studies above, read the full 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report.

Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide.  The company is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif.  More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.