Protecting natural resources

Sustainable water usage, effluent minimization and recycling, consumption and waste reduction, and restorative decommissioning—guided by policies and processes

Download 2024 Sustainability Report

Nature

SLB is committed to safeguarding our planet’s invaluable natural resource: water.

In 2024, we reinforced our commitment to effective water management through further development of our water stewardship strategy. We have harnessed our tools and data systems to meticulously track our water footprint and gain a deeper understanding of water risks in the areas where we operate. This crucial step sets the foundation for our initiatives aimed at reducing our environmental impact.

Our approach

Water stewardship

Our approach to water stewardship is rooted in three pillars: measure, reduce, and replenish. Our commitment is to measure, reduce, and replenish water resources, laying the groundwork for a more sustainable future.

Responsible water management is central to our operations. Our vision reaches beyond compliance to encompass a holistic strategy that addresses a spectrum of water-related challenges and opportunities within our industry, fortifying our role as leaders in sustainable operations.

Measure

Our water stewardship journey expanded by establishing a baseline for our operations. We have developed an integrated system for enhanced water tracking and monitoring. We went beyond water consumption recording within our facilities to include all operations to gain deeper insights into the parameters of our daily operations. This highlighted the business lines with higher water consumption, including drilling fluids, cementing, and well stimulation. To enhance data integrity, we are investing in smart metering for water consumption, targeting facilities in high water-stressed areas.

Reduce

Having established a baseline for water consumption, our next step is to enhance water efficiency and promote water stewardship at our various locations.

We launched several projects dedicated to water conservation, water generation, water treatment, and rainwater harvesting. These initiatives harnessed technology, best practices, and water-saving measures to curtail water usage in a range of processes, encompassing operations, cleaning, and manufacturing. Through these projects and other successful local initiatives, we reduced water consumption by more than 250,000 cubic meters.

Replenish

Our vision for water replenishment involves collaborating with local communities and stakeholders to support sustainable water use and management initiatives.

In response to Qatar’s water scarcity, SLB Water Services, in collaboration with government agencies, introduced a pioneering Managed Aquifer Recharge™ solution involving deep recharge wells that extend 400 meters into the ground. This innovative approach has now become fundamental to Qatar’s water management. Each system is licensed by the regulator to handle up to 8,000 cubic meters of treated water daily, contributing to an annual recharge of more than 42 million cubic meters of water into the aquifers, leading to an improvement in the quality of groundwater for the receiving aquifer, which is naturally saline, and enhancing water resources for the future.