The oil and natural gas industry has worked hard to achieve a harmonious relationship with the environment and surrounding wildlife.
In fact, the industry has invested nearly $100 billion in emerging technologies that allow offshore operations to be cleaner, safer and more efficient. Through new seismic exploration and extended reach drilling technologies, our geologists can see and survey underground oil and natural gas deposits more effectively than in days past. This improves exploration success rates while reducing environmental impact. Electronic navigation and physical oceanographic systems also help safeguard our natural resources and are a large part of the reason why over the last decade, more than 99.9 percent of oil delivered by tankers has reached its destination in the U.S. without incident.
On the mainland, we now employ 4-dimensional seismic imaging to help locate oil underground. Our geoscientists watch multiple 3D screens that show the underground rock and, hopefully, oil reservoirs. Time is the fourth dimension in this equation – we overlay new images to see which direction the oil is moving. By following the flow, before we even scratch the surface, we can be more precise when extracting the oil. We can drill downward … then turn left or right for miles … and then go back up or down. This technique greatly reduces our impact on the land.
Deep drilling technology also offers other benefits. In one Wyoming field, for instance, engineers pull oil from depths of nearly five miles, and at volumes so high that only a few wells are needed to drain the reservoir.
Companies involved in local energy exploration have also reintroduced native plant species and created groundwater reservoirs to serve local antelope, deer and waterfowl. Fish and Game Departments from a variety of states have honored the industry for environmentally-sound practices, and environmental groups, such as The Nature Conservancy, have partnered with oil and natural gas companies to protect native habitats.
The preservation of nature – and of America’s energy future – remains paramount when exploring for natural resources.
See how the co-generation process works