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VERIFICATION
STATEMENT FROM ERM CVS VERIFICATION OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE ERM Certification & Verification Services (ERM CVS) was commissioned by Amerada Hess Corporation (AHC) to undertake verification of its 2002 Environment, Health, Safety and Social Responsibility Report (the Report). The objective of the verification was to establish that the information presented is a complete, accurate, and reliable representation of performance and programs for the year 2002. The verification scope included both data and representations made by Amerada Hess Corporation in the 2002 Report and relevant linked information provided by the company at their web site www.hess.com. The Board of Directors of AHC are responsible for the information contained within the Report. VERIFICATION APPROACH ERM CVS verification procedures and methodologies have been developed with due regard to the requirements of international standards governing environmental management systems, and general principles of auditing. Our verification approach is customised for each client and involves detailed challenge of the contents of the report, selected document review, random chain of custody audits for data, selected interrogation of source data and consolidated data, and interviews with both corporate and operational staff at all levels of the organisation. The verification was conducted through a series of meetings at AHC Offices with corporate staff responsible for policy direction, the design, management and internal assurance of data collection systems, the compilation of overall data and material production for inclusion in this report. Substantiation of a sample of statements and claims made in the Report has been undertaken and evidence sought where deemed appropriate. Additionally a review was conducted of the supplemental report produced for UK operations, primarily with respect to evaluating consistency with the Corporate Report. Our activities included source data interrogation and ERM CVS verifiers visited 7 sites globally, interviewing site personnel to assess whether environment, safety and health data had been collected and reported completely and accurately. The sites visited by ERM CVS were: the First Reserve Terminal, New Jersey, the Pennsauken Terminal, New Jersey, the Seminole Gas Plant in Texas, the Port Reading Refinery in New Jersey, two retail gasoline stations in New York (Staten Island and Manhattan), and the South Arne platform in the North Sea off the coast of Denmark. OPINION & RECOMMENDATIONS In the opinion of ERM CVS, and based on the sample of data reviewed, the 2002 environment, safety and health data provides reliable information for understanding group-wide performance. The assertions, claims and statements made by AHC are supported by evidence obtained during the verification process. AHC has developed indicative safety and health indicators and a robust set of environmental performance indicators, upon which performance associated with the activities of AHC can be evaluated. ERM CVS believes that the information gathering processes and the stated corporate performance targets provide a sound basis against which progress can be reviewed by the management team and external stakeholders. With respect to AHC's emerging social strategies, leadership teams are currently tasked with developing practicable performance goals and measures. A fair and comprehensive representation of the current position with respect to social strategies and specific local initiatives in this regard has been presented. There remain opportunities to improve and strengthen the relevance and alignment of corporate goals with the issues associated with the varied activities of operating units. It is recommended that continuing and increased emphasis be placed on improving internal consistency with respect to current and developing indicators. Furthermore, a review of the completeness and materiality parameters of new and existing indicators would be of benefit, taking into account both internal and external stakeholder views on the relevance and importance of information presented. As this is the second year AHC has included social issues in its report, an initial set of social indicators to measure performance related to goals and, comprehensive programs for engaging external stakeholder involvement in the reporting process should be a central focus for the coming year. As these polices and strategies develop AHC will need to consider how it will ensure and engender consistent approaches across its varied operations while maintaining the flexibility required to meet local needs. 
Brian Kraus, Chief Operating Officer ERM Certification and Verification Services |
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