Ready to respond

Devon prioritizes life safety and business continuity when incidents occur that could impact our employees, our assets, our business and the environment. We dedicate resources to emergency preparedness and follow nationally recognized standards for effective emergency management.

Our centralized corporate emergency management function leads Devon’s emergency response and recovery efforts for operational incidents, weather events, supply disruptions and other disruptions. We follow the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Incident Management System (NIMS) to manage emergency response in cooperation with community agencies.

Training, drills and exercises

Devon provides in-house training, drills and exercises on the NIMS Incident Command System (ICS), and integrates best practices to be ready for timely, effective incident response. Our emergency management program leader is a certified Emergency Manager and ICS instructor, which strengthens our capabilities.

In 2024, Devon’s emergency management team continued to train our workforce to maintain proper response capabilities. By training smarter, reducing costs, connecting departments and streamlining processes, the team helped create efficiencies in multiple areas of the company.

We conducted two incident management functional exercises at our corporate office to activate the Incident Command Center in a simulated field incident, as well as a tabletop exercise conducted with our aviation team. Training exercises were conducted in each business unit to test our response plans, practice roles and responsibilities, test and practice skills for life safety and response tactics, and engage responders. Our full-scale exercise in South Texas engaged law enforcement, fire, emergency management services (EMS), county and state emergency management, other first responders from two counties and response contractors. In the Mid-Continent business unit, the full-scale exercise involved 28 response agencies from five counties. Overall in 2024, approximately 580 people engaged in Devon’s incident management training exercises and more than 300 additional people participated in related trainings.

Devon plans to conduct incident management trainings and exercises with all field operating areas and as requested by business units and functions in 2025. This will include emergency management team support for digital security exercise efforts to continue bridging industrial systems and operational systems planning efforts. In recent years, the team has helped strengthen collaboration between technology and field operations teams, including developing and implementing the Technology Disaster Recovery Management Practice.

As a member of the Lake Sakakawea Area Spill Response Coalition that services our Williston Basin assets in North Dakota, Devon employees participate in two training exercises each year. The coalition of oil and gas company operators maintains resources and skills to manage oil spill response in the region and works together to deliver a timely and appropriate response to a spill for any company needing assistance. We also maintain a retainer with an oil spill response organization that provides similar services and covers needs for the entire company.

Continuous improvement

Our emergency management and field teams responded to operational and weather incidents in all our business units and other emergencies during 2024.

After every exercise and actual response, we document areas for improvement, best practices and strengths. As part of our continuous improvement efforts, corrective actions are incorporated into our EHS incident management system. When emergencies and incidents occur, these practices enable Devon to protect our workforce, our neighbors and our assets. In turn, we’re protecting our business and license to operate.

Devon follows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Security Exercise and Evaluation Program, which allows us to provide community partners with documentation that validates their participation for federal funding and medical facility accreditation requirements.

Our emergency management team engages with local, state and federal emergency managers. Team members attended the Oklahoma Emergency Management Association annual conference in 2024, where Devon sponsored the annual awards banquet. We hosted and facilitated a tabletop discussion at the Central Oklahoma Emergency Management Association Annual Workshop and yearend meeting. Through our partnership with the National Weather Service, Devon hosted the regional forecast warning office for presentations two times at Devon Energy Center. Devon will engage law enforcement, fire, emergency management and emergency medical services during incident management exercises as we continue to build relationships with first responders to keep people and property safe.

We believe robust emergency management capabilities throughout industry and government contribute to community safety and security. Devon supports the head of our emergency management program in her role as a voting delegate for API and active member of the Emergency Management Working Group, as well as the designated representative for Oil and Natural Gas Subsector Coordinating Council, part of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Critical Infrastructure Cross-Sector Council. The council comprises 16 critical infrastructure industries, including energy, transportation, and food and agriculture, that coordinate the private sector’s cooperative efforts to advance its critical infrastructure security, protection and resiliency mission. Our emergency management leader also served as a working group lead for a National Petroleum Council study focused on the response to disruptions caused by hurricanes, cyber-attacks and physical attacks. The NPC study was published in December of 2022 and distributed in 2023.

As our representative on the Permian Strategic Partnership’s (PSP) roads safety, healthcare and management committees, our emergency management leader helps guide initiatives such as increased focus on road safety through partnerships with local colleges to offer CDL training.

Devon’s involvement in industry and government initiatives enhances our ability to manage risk and maintain business continuity by giving us early insights into emerging issues, pending laws and regulations, and other critical information.