Supporting Local Communities
We engage in social contribution programs to support and enhance the social and economic development of local communities in response to their needs. We contributed 3 billion yen to social investment activities in FY2022. Regular meetings are held between CSR teams in Tokyo, Perth, Jakarta, Abu Dhabi, and Oslo to provide updates on community engagement and contribution activities and to share lessons learned.
Australia
In Australia, we contribute to building communities that are vibrant and economically resilient. Our Community Investment Strategy sets out INPEX’s approach to conducting voluntary community investment activities contributing to positive outcomes in the communities where we operate. The Strategy identifies the following priority areas:
- Education and training
- Health and wellbeing
- Business capacity building
- Community connectivity and resilience.
In FY2022, we supported about 40 community programs, ranging from small community grants to strategic partnerships with for-purpose organizations.
Our main focus continues to be the development and expansion of strategic community partnerships, with the intention of creating meaningful and long-term positive impact in our host communities.
Each year, we continue to support community events and initiatives through sponsorship, and provide donations for disaster relief and recovery efforts in impacted communities. We also offer in-kind support to community partners through employee volunteering, paid-for advertising and promotional opportunities, as well as providing expertise through presentations and mentoring.
Case study: Improving outcomes measurement in community investment activities
During FY2022, INPEX Australia commenced work to improve the company’s approach to outcomes measurement across its community investment activities, with a particular focus on community partnerships.
INPEX’s community investment activities are guided by a strategy encompassing a social vision, long-term social objectives (key regions, population groups and impact areas that should benefit from INPEX’s core business activities and community investment more broadly), and an outcomes measurement framework.
Our Community Investment Strategy is being revised to align with the next phase of INPEX’s activities in Australia and support initiatives of value to the communities where we operate. We have been working with an external consultant and key internal and external stakeholders to achieve this and related objectives.
A key component of our work has been to enhance the understanding of relevant managerial and functional personnel about our community investment approach and the importance of outcomes measurement.
We have engaged with our community partners for much the same purpose and to seek feedback on the challenges and opportunities of effectively measuring program deliverables. This feedback is assisting us to develop new tools and processes to support outcomes measurement and reporting activities. Moving forward we will continue to offer support to community partners who seek further assistance in strengthening their outcomes measurement frameworks.
Indonesia
Since FY2009, we have engaged in diverse activities at the Abadi LNG Project in Indonesia to support the sustainable growth of local communities, including efforts to preserve the environment and traditional culture and create economic opportunities. We identify community needs through dialogue with stakeholders and carry out activities that serve those needs, based on the Social Investment Strategy, which has been developed with a medium- to long-term strategic perspective.
A wide array of activities were planned and are now being implemented under the Social Investment Strategy 2021–2023, which was drafted in FY2020. Five focus areas were identified under this strategy: (① Improvement of local economies; ➁ Education; ③ Public health; ④ the Environment; and ⑤ Strategic community contribution. Key efforts made in FY2022 include the following:
Scholarship & Mentoring Program:
Provided scholarships and other support for graduate school education (master’s and doctoral programs) to university lecturers in the Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia’s Maluku Province, to improve their educational teaching skills.
Clean and Healthy Behavior Program:
Supported efforts to secure a clean drinking water supply for the community nearest the project site. Specifically, we worked together with the community and the local government to install a community water tank and supply pipelines.
Tanimbar Ikat Weaving Development Program:
Provided support to help preserve, pass down, and spread the culture of ikat (traditional woven textiles) in the Tanimbar Islands, and create new markets for these textiles.
Specifically, in FY2022, we skills training and mentoring for 20 ikat artisans, which included mentoring on small-to medium-sized enterprise related matters, and construction of two local galleries to display ikat products.
Environmental Preservation and Conservation Program:
Planted native trees along major roads in urban areas in collaboration with local environmental authorities. We also help to develop, maintain, and manage a local park.
Scholarship Program (INPEX Scholarship Foundation)
Since its establishment in 1981, the INPEX Scholarship Foundation has provided scholarships aimed at promoting mutual understanding, friendship, and goodwill between Japan and Indonesia through student exchanges. In FY2022, this scholarship program was expanded to include students from Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Foundation has supported 147 Indonesian, 65 Japanese, two Australian, and one Emirati students to date. Many of the students are now contributing to friendship and goodwill between Japan and their home countries in the research fields they studied during their time abroad.
Abu Dhabi
Our business activities in Abu Dhabi have entered a new phase with: the acquisition of concessions in the onshore oil fields in 2015; the extension of our Upper Zakum Oil Field interests in 2017; and the extension of our Satah Oil Field and Umm Al Dalkh Oil Field interests and acquisition of an interest in the Lower Zakum Oil Field, both in 2018. In addition, we were awarded the rights to operate Onshore Block 4 in 2019 and are currently undertaking exploration activities. We operate in Abu Dhabi through our subsidiary Japan Oil Development Co., Ltd. (JODCO), which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. We took this occasion to establish the INPEX JODCO Foundation to continue to strengthen our social contribution activities in Abu Dhabi. To further enhance our long-term relationship with the UAE and Abu Dhabi, we focus our social contribution activities on education for the country’s next generation.
Introduction of Kumon Method to Abu Dhabi
Since 2018, with the aim of nurturing young minds to develop mathematical proficiency—the foundation for education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)—we have collaborated with the Kumon Institute of Education and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to introduce the Kumon Method in four Abu Dhabi elementary schools. In 2019, we commenced the world’s first tablet computer-based Kumon learning program outside Japan. From 2020 onward, we developed a new Kumon Method mathematics learning format using tablet computers and other digital tools to facilitate at-home learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This program is currently being run for some 6,000 students at 10 schools. Since 2021, efforts funded by INPEX are continuing to help improve academic performance for even greater numbers of students.
Promotion of Judo and Judoka Training
We strive to promote the spread of judo in Abu Dhabi by supporting the training of young judoka by a judo instructor invited from Tokai University in Japan. We also cohost the annual Judo Japanese Ambassador’s Cup tournament in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.
Exhibiting at Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX)
As a bridge to facilitate cultural exchange between Japan and the UAE, we have exhibited at ADIHEX since 2004. We have introduced traditional Japanese culture, from falconry to sword-making, candy making, tea ceremony, manga, and anime. In 2022, we displayed a range of artworks to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and the UAE. A number of local dignitaries visited the INPEX booth at the time, including Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was named Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi in March this year.
Norway
Munch Museum Sponsorship
Our subsidiary INPEX Norway Co., Ltd. has renewed the sponsorship agreement between INPEX Idemitsu Norge AS(IIN) and the Munch Museum for another five year. IIN has been a sponsor of the museum for more than 30 years, beginning with IIN’s predecessor, Idemitsu Petroleum Norge AS,. Since the museum’s inception in 1991, IIN has contributed more than 100 million Norwegian krone. Donations from IIN have played a key role in realizing several major projects, including the extension and repair of the museum as well as the restoration of The Scream and Madonna, Edvard Munch’s masterpieces that were stolen in 2004 and subsequently recovered.
“Our partnership with IIN has been a long and valuable one, and we are proud to have maintained excellent relations with the company,” said Tone Hansen, Director of the Munch Museum. “We greatly appreciate that IIN is continuing this legacy of helping us maintain a high level of activity and an art program that will benefit both the city’s residents and visitors.
Kazakhstan
In the Kashagan Project, in which our subsidiary INPEX North Caspian Sea, Ltd. participates, NCOC (North Caspian Operating Company N.V.), the operator of the project conducts social infrastructure projects since 1998. This projects consists of construction of facilities for housing, education, healthcare, as well as urban development. By the end of 2021, the number of completed projects in Atyrau and Mangistau Oblasts, where we operate, exceeds 220. In addition, NCOC conducts philanthropic programs in both Oblasts, with five focus areas: healthcare, education, sports, culture and charity.
Japan
Volunteers in our head office run a charitable giving program through which employees can opt to have a portion of their pay deducted for donation to NGOs and NPOs chosen through an annual employee vote. The beneficiaries selected engage in activities related to three themes: the Environment; Education and Fostering Future Generations; or Support for Local Communities. In FY2023, as part of the Company’s social contribution activities and in support of the Education and Fostering Future Generations theme, we have supported Special Exhibition DINOSAUR EXPO 2023, held at the National Museum of Nature and Science and other venues, and LA FOLLE JOURNÉE TOKYO 2023, held mainly at the Tokyo International Forum. We will also sponsor the 92nd Music Competition of Japan, which has already propelled many promising musicians onto the world stage.
Since FY2020, a program coordinated by our subsidiary, INPEX Solutions, Ltd., has provided on-site workshops—led by richly experienced employees—to students at junior and senior high schools, technical colleges, and universities. The lessons cover energy development, the general energy situation, and climate change. In FY2022, we presented a lecture titled “Energy choices” to students studying technology at Usune Junior High School in Numata City, Gunma Prefecture. We also presented on-site workshops at the Department of Civil Engineering, Gunma College, and Takasaki Municipal Nanyodai Elementary School in Gunma Prefecture.
Our Akita Field Office employees team up with relevant local organizations to plant flower seeds along Cosmos Road in Akita City’s Yabase district. Nagaoka Field Office employees join with agricultural workers and organizations to pick up litter and maintain flower beds in the area around Koshijihara Plant.
Employees at our Naoetsu LNG Terminal participate in beach clean-ups organized by a local environmental group, pick up litter and cut grass along roads near the office, and carry out other beautification activities to do their bit for the local community. We also support requests for educational field trip opportunities from the local community—such as government offices, residents, and businesses—and offer tours that explore the terminal’s LNG tanks and other facilities. The tour includes a stop at the on-site INPEX Museum, a small theater that screens a fascinating video presentation of the story of oil and natural gas—from its formation through to its use in our everyday lives (The tour program was suspended in FY2022 due to COVID-19 precautions).
