Water risks, impacts and opportunities could soon become a main focus in sustainable performance for oil and gas.

In Corporate Water Strategy, a new on demand course developed with WaterSMART, participants will learn practical approaches to manage shareholder requirements, regulatory changes, and challenging scenarios, such as water shortages, floods, and sharp changes in water quality.

They will learn how a water strategy prepares businesses to respond, adapt, and lead as risks and opportunities emerge around this essential resource.

Steve Herman, engineering manager at WaterSMART, said most companies may have a plan for water on a facility basis, but few have an overarching strategy, which is becoming more crucial every day.

“With increasing development and climate change, we are seeing water risk become even more significant,” he said.

Risks are often the focal point for many detractors of projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline ­– where the pipeline received fierce opposition because of its potential impacts to an aquifer in the United States, said Herman.

Sustainability leaders in energy need to be able to understand, mitigate, and communicate about their companies’ water risks, impacts, and opportunities.

“We are also seeing on the financial and investor side more recognition of water as a risk,” said Herman. “A project investor might recognize that you need water to make your product therefore they need to know that you have a good strategy for accessing and managing that water. Then there’s that whole social dimension of what stakeholders and rightsholders expect, in addition to shareholders, with respect to water.”

Water will continue to be a critical resource as part of the energy transition, thanks to the role it plays in technologies such as hydrogen, nuclear power, and carbon capture and storage. There are also opportunities to generate value through water.

“Water isn’t going away as a core input for businesses," said Herman. "If anything, the energy transition and potential impacts of climate change will require a bigger focus on water. You can’t have an energy transition strategy without an effective water strategy to direct how changes will be managed, risks addressed, and opportunities seized.”

By taking the course, learners will develop practical approaches to manage the changing water availability landscape, asset-specific water risks, and shareholder, stakeholder, and rightsholder expectations. They will hear examples of how having a water strategy has aided other businesses and the names and basic functions of some existing tools to support water strategy development and implementation.

Key benefits

• Understand the importance of water as a resource and why your organization needs a water strategy
• Prepare your organization to evaluate its water risks and opportunities
• Learn how to develop a water strategy for your company

Course takeaways

• Develop an understanding of the criticality of water as a resource
• Understand the evolving pressures on water use both for current uses and emerging (e.g., green & blue hydrogen production)
• Understand how to develop a water strategy for your company

Start learning here today.