Sustainability

A leader in stewardship and sustainable value creation

At SM Energy, we prioritize the safety, health, and development of our employees and contractors—fostering a dynamic and thriving team. Our commitment to environmental responsibility is reflected in the high standards we set across our operations and in our pursuit of innovative solutions to protect the environment and drive efficiency. We actively invest in the communities where we live and work, building lasting partnerships with our stakeholders. Through our annual sustainability disclosures, we share progress and performance across key areas. Our business strategy is built for long-term value creation—balancing operational excellence, environmental stewardship, and financial strength to deliver resilient results.

Sustainability Leadership

Rystad Energy Recognition

SM Energy one of the top three operators excelling in sustainability performance in 2023

MSCI ESG Rating as of May 2025

We are proud to share the most recent strides we have made in not just living up to industry and societal standards, but also to our own:

2024

Advanced emissions reduction through strategic piloting and deployment of cutting-edge technologies—including dynamic gas blending, electrified fleets, solar-power infrastructure, and continuous methane detection systems—across the Company’s operations.
Demonstrated significant progress in water stewardship by increasing produced water recycling to 40%—a 25% improvement on a relative basis over the previous year.
Launched New Safety Initiatives and Leadership Training—strengthening the Company’s Safety-First Culture and empowering all employees and contractors.
Honored with two distinguished Leadership Development awards from the Brandon Hall Group^TM—a Gold Award for innovation in building competencies and skills, and a Bronze Award for overall leadership development excellence.
Welcomed two new board members, each bringing distinct and valuable expertise including expertise in Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

2023

Superior safety metrics including a total recordable incident rate of 0.20 per 200,000 hours worked, contractors plus employees, a 38% improvement from 2022.
Reported spill rate for 2023 was 0.006 per 1,000 Bbls of produced fluids, a 45% improvement from 2022.
Set up a Midland Basin Operations Surveillance Room (OSR) that allows for 24/7/365 monitoring by the Company’s Operations Specialists. In addition to enhanced monitoring, this technology allows for real-time notification with alarms to field personnel to improve our response time to unsafe, hazardous, or downtime events. The OSR has advanced our ability to proactively respond to equipment irregularities, and to identify and provide timely response to spill and emissions events, safety concerns, and theft.

2022

Developed operations EHS dashboard that provides nearly real-time tracking of the company’s safety and environmental performance, available to all employees.
Completed controlled emissions test simultaneously evaluating 5 different technologies.
Conducted aerial LiDAR flyover baseline study of 100% of operational locations.
Began monthly aerial LiDAR flyovers of all OOOOa locations in Midland Basin.

2021

Initiated water recycling with neighboring operators.
Participated in pilot aerial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) flyover program covering ~30 locations.
Met internal goals for implementing LDAR at 100% of Midland Basin and 100% of South Texas locations.
Developed corporate ESG and EHS dashboard to monitor essential data used by management and presented quarterly to the Board of Directors.
Established near- and medium-term emissions reduction targets for flaring, GHG and methane.
Conducted and reported scenario analysis applying International Energy Agency Sustainable Development Scenario assumptions.

2020

Initiated testing dual-fuel technology for completions operations.
Increased the ESG-related duties and renamed an existing committee of our Board of Directors to the Environmental, Social and Governance Committee.

2019

Added gas pipeline interconnections that serve to reduce flaring.
Exceeded internally set goal by implementing LDAR at 100% of Midland Basin and 50% of South Texas locations.

2018

Built water handling infrastructure in Howard County, which reduces emissions, truck traffic and operating costs.
Implemented compressed natural gas on first SM Energy dual-fuel rig.
Locally sourced 100% of sand for Midland Basin operations.

2016

Began utilizing solar power at select operations sites.
Initiated leak detection and repair (LDAR) in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) OOOOa.

Learn more about our Environmental efforts

Learn more about our People and Community Engagement

Learn more about our Governance practices