Protecting Sensitive Environments
Many of the U.S.’ untapped oil and natural gas resources lie beneath sensitive environments ranging from the Arctic tundra to the southern wetlands to offshore sites. Over the past four decades, the oil and natural gas industry has developed innovative approaches for operating in these sensitive areas, improving both environmental and economic performance.
Protecting the Ocean - From the Gulf of Mexico to the North Sea, the oil and natural gas industry is using advanced technology to search for new energy resources in deeper water while improving environmental and safety precautions.
Advanced 3-D seismic surveys enable operators to pinpoint potential reserves more accurately, which translates into fewer wells drilled and faster, more efficient resource recovery.
Side-scan sonar is used to identify safe sites for production platforms, avoiding sensitive habitats and unstable areas.
Extended reach and horizontal wells reduce the number of wells and production platforms needed to develop the field.
Safety and Environmental Management Programs have practically eliminated oil spills from offshore platforms. Subsea blowout preventers, along with steady advancements in well engineering and equipment and procedures to manage subsurface pressures or "kicks" are used to maintain well control even in very deep water.
Protecting Wetlands - Today, almost everyone realizes the important role wetlands play in the environment. Where there are potential oil and natural gas reserves located under wetlands, the oil and natural gas industry takes care to minimize risks.Arctic Challenges - The Arctic presents some real obstacles to producing energy, including extremely low winter temperatures and very remote locations. Advanced technology has allowed the oil and gas industry to expand the areas that can be explored, while protecting the sensitive Arctic environment.
To avoid damaging the tundra, exploration is only conducted during the winter. This allows the use of roads, bridges, drilling pads, and airstrips constructed of ice, which melt away each spring. For sites that are too remote for ice roads, alternate means of transportation are used. Large all-terrain vehicles with huge balloon tires carry equipment across the frozen tundra leaving no tracks, or helicopters are used to move equipment and materials.
Advanced horizontal and multilateral drilling is employed to allow the industry to develop large reservoirs with far fewer surface locations and wells. Over 40,000 acres of subsurface reservoir rock can now be drained from a site that takes up less than 10 acres on the surface.»next