BP, one of the largest industrial employers along the Region's lakeshore, plans to invest $100 million in emissions reduction projects worldwide over the next few years.
The company, which operates the sprawling BP Whiting Refinery in Whiting, Hammond and East Chicago, aimed to reduce its emissions by 3.5 million tons and lower methane intensity by 0.2% by 2025. It achieved its methane intensity target by the end of last year, despite increases in Upstream oil and gas production, and has lowered carbon emissions by 2.5 million tons thus far.
"A year ago we challenged everyone at BP to reduce emissions in our operations and they have responded overwhelmingly," BP Upstream Chief Executive Bernard Looney said. "This $100 million investment is designed to build on that momentum. It will fund ideas both big and small because everything counts in our transition to a lower carbon future and everyone at BP has a role to play.”
The London-based energy giant will spend up to $100 million over the next three years to further reduce emissions and is inviting employees and different business units to pitch ideas for how to best use the funding. BP, which operates the former Standard Oil Refinery on Lake Michigan, has been investing more in alternative energy and lower-carbon operations as it looks toward a future where the company predicts a more diversified energy mix.
The largest refinery in the Midwest and the largest in the BP system, the BP Whiting Refinery produces gasoline for seven Midwestern states, as well as jet fuel for O'Hare International Airport and 5 % of the nation's asphalt. It employs more than 1,800 workers as well as countless contractors who work on various maintenance and capital projects there.
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