Assurance statement

Scope of the assurance
Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance, Inc. (LRQA) was commissioned by Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) to assure the reporting processes used in the creation of the ExxonMobil 2009 Corporate Citizenship Report (“the Report”). The objectives of the assurance engagement were to verify the integrity of the processes used for determining material issues and for reporting, and to evaluate consistency with the following industry guidelines:

  • IPIECA/API, Oil and Gas Industry Guidance on Voluntary Sustainability Reporting (April 2005); and,
  • API, Compendium of Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimation Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry (February 2004)

The LRQA scope of assurance was limited to processes for the reporting of safety, health, and environmental core IPIECA performance indicators and ExxonMobil-selected additional indicators. Verification of the accuracy of data and information was not included in the review scope. ExxonMobil has prepared and approved the Report and fully acknowledges its sole responsibility for the accuracy of all data and information contained within it.

Approach
The assurance engagement was based on interviews with key personnel to identify the processes in place to fulfill the core IPIECA indicators followed by reviews of the processes for collecting, compiling, and reporting these indicators at the corporate, functional-business, and operating-unit levels.

These reviews comprised:

  • A review of the reported information to confirm the inclusion of all core safety, health, and environmental performance indicators referenced in the IPIECA/API Guidance;
  • A review of the documented reporting requirements against the applicable industry guidelines to assure consistency of scope, definition, and reporting for each of the relevant indicators;
  • A review of the reporting processes at Headquarters and at each of the functional business levels to evaluate the processes used by ExxonMobil to assure completeness, consistency, and conformance to reporting requirements across its global operations;
  • Reviews of the data-reporting processes at a sample of selected operating sites to assess local understanding and implementation of reporting requirements;
  • A Headquarters review of the stakeholder engagement process; and,
  • A review of the processes used to aggregate the data and information at the corporate level for inclusion in the Report.

Conclusions and findings
Based on the scope of the LRQA assurance engagement and the data and information presented for review, objective evidence was available to support the following conclusions:

  • Processes are in place that ensure sites contributing to core safety, health, and environmental metrics understand corporate reporting obligations and are included in corporate safety, health, and environmental reporting;
  • The methods used for calculating each metric are clearly defined and communicated;
  • Data collection begins at the operating-site level and is ultimately collated and combined into Corporation-wide metrics;
  • Processes are in place to ensure that the quantitative indicators are checked for completeness, consistency, and accuracy;
  • Responsibility for annually reviewing and updating reporting guidelines is clear and improvement in methodology is regularly undertaken;
  • Guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions reporting are consistent with, and specifically refer to, the API Compendium for GHG Emissions Methodologies for the Oil and Gas Industry (February 2004);
  • Active engagement with external stakeholders provides feedback for determining material issues; and,
  • LRQA believes the ExxonMobil reporting system is effective in delivering safety, health, and environmental indicators that are useful for assessing corporate performance and reporting information consistent with IPIECA/API Guidance.

Andrea M. Bockrath
On behalf of Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance, Inc.
8 April 2010

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.

Independenceof LRQA from ExxonMobil
LRQA and ExxonMobil operate as discrete and independent legal entities. LRQA provides ExxonMobil with third-party attestation assessment services to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. The assurance and attestation assessment services are the only work undertaken by LRQA for ExxonMobil.