As we continuously focus on improving shareholder value by manufacturing and supplying oil products and services that satisfy the needs of our customers, we ensure that our refinery conducts its operations and business in a safe, environmentally sustainable and economically optimal manner.
How we extend value through our operations
HRC’s duties and responsibilities for environmental care include ensuring we use our resources such as hydrocarbons and water as efficiently as possible, and managing all waste to minimize and recycle where possible, or dispose of in an environmentally responsible manner.
Our operations require water, which is used to generate steam and for cooling and cleaning purposes. We are aware that water resources are vital, so we ensure our raw water consumption is optimized – thereby ensuring the water intake is no more than what is critically necessary to operate the refinery.
Our plant recovers condensate from steam which is recycled into boiler feed water. The percentage recovered varies depending on the process conditions, crude type and other factors.
HRC’s treated effluent water (water that is no longer usable or recyclable) and sea water quality at the jetty are diligently monitored and reported to the Department of Environment (DOE) on a monthly basis. HRC also monitors the same qualities ourselves on a daily basis at various points inside the refinery. This enables us to proactively detect and take necessary corrective action on any parameter exceeding the acceptable boundaries so that the final release stays within legal limits, ensuring compliance with DOE Standard B limits as stipulated in the Environmental Quality (Industrial Effluent Regulations) 2009.
In the case of a water supply disruption
HRC has established its own procedures to manage a water-stressed situation, which it defines in the context of its operating environment as a water supply disruption. When there is an unplanned water supply disruption, the refinery triggers its Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
The BCP aims to keep our business running when the refinery experiences interruptions or insufficient protection of critical business processes from the impacts of external or internal water supply failures. These disruptions may be due to uncontrollable incidents such as external/state infrastructure failures, natural catastrophes, internal asset failure, IT-system failures, sabotage etc.
The BCP team holds regular reviews to update and improve the BCPs. The reviews ensure that BCPs are always up-to-date and relevant with the latest working environment by identifying current situations, reviewing and closing gaps, identifying business and technical focal points, and conducting BCP workshops with relevant team members to develop BCP scenarios. All BCP scenarios will then be tested periodically and reviewed to ensure effectiveness.
The water supply has been cut due to external infrastructure failure on several occasions and the BCP measures have been used to successfully avoid stoppages.