Our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy dictates that we communicate promptly and openly with shareholders, suppliers, business partners, and other stakeholders. Based on this policy, we disclose corporate information in a timely, appropriate, and fair manner through investor relations activities, the company website, and public relations outreach. Doing so ensures the transparency and accountability of management and we constantly strive to improve on these initiatives.

Regarding our internal frameworks we have named the head of the Corporate Strategy & Planning Division as the official in charge of information disclosure and established the Corporate Communications Unit as a body devoted to information disclosure. Regarding procedures for disclosure, the Rules for Corporate Information Disclosure stipulate processes for Group-wide collection, management, communication, and disclosure of information, but we also strive to increase awareness of these rules in an effort to prevent information leaks and insider trading.

IR exhibition for individual investors

In fiscal 2010, we held two briefing sessions with financial analysts and institutional investors to report financial results. In Japan and overseas, we also offered two project site tours for analysts and investors and held 501 investor relations (IR) meetings. Due to the recent increase in the percentage of shares held by foreign shareholders, over half of our meetings were held for foreign investors.

In addition to IR exhibitions, our IR activities for individual investors included 13 information sessions held in six cities around Japan with over 1,500 investors in attendance.

To make our general shareholders’ meetings as open as possible, since our founding we have issued notices of general shareholders’ meetings (some with English versions) on our website, played videos and slideshows showcasing our activities before the meetings, and avoided holding meetings on days when other general shareholders’ meetings are held.

We also have regularly conducted a CSR incentive questionnaire in which the number of responses from shareholders determines how much we donate to a nature conservation group. In fiscal 2010, this project yielded ¥638,000, which we donated to the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund.

We are conducting environmental and social impact assessment activities for the Abadi Gas Field development project. Continuing from the public hearing we held in the city of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands in November 2009, from April to May 2010 we also invited about 30 local officials and residents to attend a project briefing on the island of Selaru in the Tanimbar Islands. We also held an additional hearing with local officials and residents in Saumlaki. We are striving to operate a transparent project by engaging in ongoing information disclosure and two-way communication to gain the understanding and cooperation of local communities.

Students listening to an INPEX employee lecture
at the Japan Student Forum on Oil and Gas
Photo: Toshiaki Usami

In an effort to teach students the importance of oil and natural gas development—an industry they are generally unfamiliar with—and take a greater interest in it, we collaborated with Diamond, Inc. to plan and host the Japan Student Forum on Oil and Gas for university and graduate-level students. We invited an outside lecturer to give a briefing on the oil and natural gas development industry and take part in a panel discussion on the topic. The event, which encouraged direct dialogue between the participating students and lecturers, was a successful way to achieve deeper and broader communication with students. The event was featured in Diamond weekly magazine in Japan and also posted on Ustream, a video broadcasting website, giving people who could not attend the event the opportunity to learn about what was shared there.

We also sent a lecturer to speak at Nikkei Education Challenge 2010, an extracurricular event hosted by Nikkei Inc. to help high school students learn more about business activities. With over 400 high school students in attendance, we tried to provide them with a clear but in-depth understanding of the applied science of oil and natural gas exploration.