flare reduction

Across our operations, we are working to reduce flaring of gas that has no economic outlet as well as gas that is flared as a result of maintenance or unexpected operating events. ExxonMobil Development Company developed Flare and Venting Reduction Standards for use in the design of major upstream projects. We continue to implement procedures and projects to improve operations reliability and thereby reduce the flaring associated with unexpected operating events and equipment maintenance. In 2007, total hydrocarbon flaring from our worldwide activities was 8.1 million metric tons.

Our operations in Nigeria continue to be the largest source of flaring among our operations globally. To eliminate routine gas flaring in Nigeria, we are investing more than $4 billion in gas utilization and commercialization projects. Progress on these projects is challenged by operational and security issues as well as partner funding. Our East Area Project compression platform came onstream in 2006 and is currently re-injecting about 1.3 million metric tons of gas per year. The full impact of this project and others under development is expected to continue to reduce flaring in years to come.

We continue to be an active member of the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership, exploring additional opportunities for gas recovery and addressing barriers to implementing economically feasible alternatives to gas flaring. We remain engaged with governments seeking to progress gas utilization and commercialization programs.

Our refineries continued implementation of Flaring Best Practices and reduced flaring by approximately 15 percent in 2007. For example, our Altona refinery in Australia constructed a light hydrocarbons recovery unit, which significantly reduced flaring. Since start-up in 2007, this unit recovered more than 10,000 metric tons of light hydrocarbons for sale as liquefied petroleum gas and gasoline.