American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017 - 45

own enough mineral rights to benefit
from lease bonuses and royalties. Owens
adds that Extraction buys water and gravel
locally when that makes sense as well.
The company also supports local charities. "In making donations, we focus on
charities that we know will have an
impact on people in the areas where we
operate," Owens says. "We generally donate to local organizations rather than
statewide ones. To select those organizations, we talk with city leaders and other
stakeholders to understand the problems
they face and find organizations that are
making a difference."

truck with oil and then prints a receipt
showing how much the driver is hauling
away," Owens relates. "This is much
safer for the oil haulers and more environmentally friendly to neighbors."
To minimize the risk of leaks and
spills, Extraction has installed sophisticated
remote monitoring and automated systems
on its wells, Owens continues. "We monitor pressure points on every single well
in real time 24 hours a day," he details.
"If pressures get out of hand, the system
notifies us, and if need be, automatically

shuts the well until one of our operators
can address the problem."
To prevent methane leaks, Owens says
Extraction has a team equipped with infrared cameras capable of detecting temperature drops associated with fugitive
emissions. "The team visits each well
site at least once every few months and
uses the cameras to look at the pipe
fittings and connections. If there is a
temperature change or another sign of
fugitive emissions, we get a construction
crew out to fix the leak immediately." r

Limiting Emissions

As part of its commitment to being a
good environmental steward, Owens says
Extraction exceeds regulatory requirements
to limit its emissions. When sites are
close enough to a municipality for Extraction to run power lines to a location,
the company uses electric drilling rigs.
"On these sites, we can power most of
our production equipment with electricity
instead of using methane from the well
or another type of gas to run a pneumatic
device, so the localized emissions benefits
extend far beyond drilling," he says.
During completions, Extraction looks
for ways to reduce truck traffic emissions,
Owens says. To illustrate, he points to
the western side of the field. "The area
has some of the richest agricultural land
in state, so there is an intricate system of
irrigation canals. By pumping water from
one of those canals through a lay-flat
hose, we take thousands of trucks off the
road that normally would be associated
with delivering water to each pad site,"
he relates.
In some areas, Owens says Extraction
runs oil pipelines to reduce traffic and
emissions. "One of the largest sources of
emissions occurs when an oil truck driver
releases vapors by opening the production
tank to determine how much oil he will
be taking away," he reports. "With oil
pipelines, the system is closed; the oil
goes from the ground, through the separation process and into the pipeline."
In areas where a pipeline is impractical,
the company retrofits lease acquisition
custody transfer (LACT) units onto its
production tanks. "Instead of climbing
up to open the tanks, the truck driver ties
into the LACT unit, which creates a
closed seal for the oil transfer, fills the

When operators needed
someone to trust,
Ulterra was there.

During the downturn, Ulterra grew in every
major basin in the U.S., becoming the

#1 PDC Bit Company
in the Permian, ArkLaTex and North Texas.
When every run counted, Ulterra was there.

JUNE 2017 45

http://www.ulterra.com

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2017

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