Conserving water resources

Water is vital.

It’s an essential resource for the world’s ecosystems, human development, and life itself. It’s also finite – and as populations grow, so will demand for water.

Navigate to:

UN SDJ icons 1,2,6,9,11,14,15
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to this content.
Each community and ecosystem is different. Understanding water stress and our potential impacts at the local level is an important part of how we enhance our risk management to Protect Tomorrow. Today.

Without water, we would not be able to operate our sites and meet society’s needs for energy and products. Water scarcity has the potential to pose business continuity and other risks. That’s why we need resilient water systems for our operations. We engage externally to gain insights and perspectives into water risks in the areas where we operate, and we consider these in our project designs and practices.

Our approach

We strive to be a leader in safeguarding water resources. Our priority is the quality and supply of freshwater in the communities and environments where we work. We focus on prudently managing and monitoring the water we use.

Through our water stewardship efforts, we seek to:

  • Help protect the health of people and the environment.
  • Consider local water needs as we meet the needs of our operations.
  • Continuously improve our capabilities and performance.
  • Engage externally on water solutions.

Our overall water management process is consistent with Ipieca’s Water Management Framework.

Water use at ExxonMobil

We use water in many aspects of our business, such as cooling machinery and making steam. We withdraw or purchase fresh, brackish, and saline water across our operations. This includes upstream exploration and production, downstream refining and chemicals production, and our growing Low Carbon Solutions business.

When sourcing water for operations, we consider local needs and available sources of supply.

Our Project Environmental Standard for Water Management establishes requirements for water sourcing and wastewater treatment. We hold ourselves to these internal standards which set requirements when a country has no water-use standards or less-stringent standards than our own expectations.

Assessing and managing water risk

We use a number of tools to assess water risks and scarcity, including local assessments and the World Resources Institute AqueductTM (WRI) Water Risk Atlas (WRI tool). Informed by our Operations Integrity Management System (OIMS) framework and Environmental Aspects Guide, we consider the unique traits of each asset and location, including biodiversity and other environmental factors.

With this understanding, we seek to reduce total water use and impacts to freshwater-dependent ecosystems through tactics that include:

  • Water conservation technologies.
  • Use of alternative sources.
  • Recycling of municipal and industrial wastewater.

Throughout the life of an asset or project, our Environmental Aspects Guide informs our efforts. We research and analyze our operations to continuously improve the processes and technologies we use. 

In 2022, we piloted our Water Aspect Assessment Tool to strengthen our focus on water risks and embedded the tool into our Project Environmental Standards and Environmental Aspects Assessment process in 2024. This tool has helped us clarify our understanding of water availability (quantity and quality), accessibility, and dimensions of water-related risks beyond water stress.

Identifying and managing risks related to water supply and quality is especially important in areas of water stress. Water stress is defined by measuring the ratio of water withdrawals to available renewable water supplies. We estimate that about 19% of the freshwater volume we withdraw is from water-stressed areas, based on analysis using the WRI tool. This represents a 10% increase since our last report, driven by ongoing portfolio optimization efforts including the acquisition of Pioneer and the divestment of some assets. By site, this represents about 29% of our locations.1

Site-specific strategies

We consider many factors in our approach at a given process or site, including local water availability, quality, and environmental impact. At selected water-stressed sites, this includes assessing actual costs and potential tradeoffs, such as reduced efficiency, higher energy use, or more concentrated waste streams.

In 2023, we began working with outside experts on an in-depth analysis of key operating sites in areas of potential future water stress. At these sites and others, we are developing thorough water balances to gain further clarity on our water use. This work informs our efforts to develop water roadmaps that outline opportunities to reduce freshwater intake for select major operated facilities.2

In Singapore, most of the water used by our affiliate’s manufacturing and refining complex is wastewater that is reclaimed and treated by the country’s national water agency. The facility’s “membrane biological reactor” enables additional reuse in on-site operations by using microorganisms to break down and separate waste.

At our Baytown petrochemical complex in Texas, we started projects and initiatives to address changes to our water supply, informed in part by our engagement with the Texas Water Development Board. In support of the Houston Metro Area’s water management plans, we continue to advance the infrastructure needed to shift sourcing from the San Jacinto River to the saltier Trinity River.3 

Across our upstream portfolio, our wells are designed and constructed to promote integrity and help protect the water table. Layers of steel and cement form protective barriers between our subsurface pipes and underground aquifers to keep fluids contained. In addition, well completions using hydraulic fracturing are closely monitored to manage the pressures within the well, based on parameters set in our project designs.

spotlight

The Permian Basin and the Pioneer acquisition

In the Permian Basin and elsewhere in our operations, we collaborate with industry members, technology solution providers, researchers, and regulators to help improve industry water management.

In 2024, more than a quarter of our global oil and natural gas production came from the Permian Basin. As we work to responsibly develop our assets in the region, we strive to safeguard the availability and quality of its water sources.

In the Permian Basin, we aim to reduce the withdrawal from natural water resources and mitigate risks from water use in our operations. To do this, we seek to:

  • Prioritize sourcing from recycled produced water to conserve resources of fresh and brackish water.
  • Diversify water disposal through innovative technology.
  • Maximize opportunities to reuse treated produced water, applying our capabilities in risk management, research, and technology.
  • Support local and regional water conservation efforts, such as those of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Pecos Watershed Conservation Initiative.

Our water management roadmap helps us plan for future Permian Basin development over the next 10 years. Implemented in 2021, it helps us identify opportunities to reduce freshwater intake and manage disposal. The roadmap informs our efforts to achieve industry-leading performance on water management. We plan to update the roadmap as needed.4

In 2024, we acquired Pioneer Natural Resources Company. Using the newly combined operating capabilities and infrastructure, ExxonMobil expects to increase the amount of recycled produced water used in its Permian Basin hydraulic fracturing operations to more than 90% by 2030.5

The company has made significant progress in reducing freshwater dependence in the region, increasing our use of recycled produced water in our hydraulic fracturing operations from 64% in 2022 to 87% in 2024. Reclaimed and brackish sources made up an additional 11%.6 All told, recycled produced, brackish, and reclaimed sources comprised 98% of water we used in our hydraulic fracturing operations in the region.

Strategic collaborations

Universities, governments, and others in our industry help inform how we manage water risks today and study opportunities for the future. Through collaborations like these, our engineers and scientists assess new wastewater technologies, evaluate current infrastructure, and develop ways to improve our performance.

We collaborate with multiple third-party groups, including

“Water is local and even personal. Communities need water to thrive, and we cannot run our company without water, so we need to focus on using it responsibly.”
Headshot of Cynthia Wagener
Cynthia Wagener, P.E.
Member: API Clean Water Issues Group Vice Chair, API Upstream Water Issues Group Co-Chair, Ipieca Water Stewardship Task Force, American Chemistry Council Water Stewardship Team
Cynthia is our Water Resource Principal Engineer who leads our water management efforts and works across our operations on site-specific strategies for water conservation.

    Publications

    Explore more

    Expanding the plastics life cycle

    Expanding the plastics life cycle

    Sunset over ExxonMobil fields.

    Integrating sustainability into what we do

    Working with suppliers

    Working with suppliers

    Cold Lake, Nabiye

    Enhancing process safety

    Improving air quality

    Improving air quality

    Water with bridge

    Sustainability Report Executive Summary

     

    FOOTNOTES:

    1. ExxonMobil full-year 2024 performance data as of March 24, 2025, and World Resources Institute Aqueduct™ Water Risk Atlas accessed on March 24, 2025. For more information on the tool, visit www.aqueduct.wri.org. We categorize “water-stressed areas” as high, extremely high, or arid stress levels identified by this WRI tool and exclude sites that withdraw less than 500,000 barrels per year.
    2. Roadmaps aim to identify opportunities for selected operated sites, which are subject to change as a result of multiple factors, including the company’s planning process, supportive government policy, and/or technology developments.
    3. Texas Water Development Board, Region H Water Planning Group, 2021 Regional Water Management Plan Volume 1 Section 11.2.4, available at  www.twdb.texas.gov/waterplanning/rwp/plans/2021.
    4. This water management roadmap identifies opportunities in the Permian Basin, which are subject to change as a result of a number of factors, including the Company’s planning process, supportive government policy, and/or technology developments.
    5. In our combined Permian Basin operations, recycled produced water includes water from ExxonMobil and other oil & gas operators in the region.
    6. Reclaimed water includes treated municipal and industrial wastewater.