The people of Oklahoma Oil & Natural Gas are committed to deploying the best available environmental controls and practices to protect our environment, making Oklahoma a great place to live, work and raise a family. We are dedicated to protecting the environment, and we work closely with the local, state and federal environmental regulatory agencies to meet or exceed regulatory requirements. As world energy consumption and production continue to increase, technology advancements within the industry have made it easier than ever before to ensure that we are keeping our air, land and water safe for generations to come.
Air.
Through the use of control technology, which is continuously evolving, emissions continue to decline while energy production increases. By deploying advanced technologies, state-of-the-art controls and adherence to the highest environmental standards, our state’s oil and natural gas producers have adopted best practices to limit emissions from engines, natural gas processing equipment and other sources involved in the production of oil and natural gas.
Land.
Once oil and natural gas producers complete well development activities and bring the well into production, they work to reclaim the surface area at the location with native vegetation. Additionally, with the use of horizontal drilling, the amount of surface area required to access the subsurface mineral estate is dramatically reduced. Because of this technology, operators are able to drill multiple wells from one location instead of drilling many more vertical wells to access the same subsurface mineral estate.
Water.
Water is an essential part of the development and production of energy and is a resource we all value. Where technically, operationally and economically viable, the reuse of produced water in the development of oil and natural gas reduces our needs to source freshwater sources. The industry works closely with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) on recycling and reuse regulations.
The people of Oklahoma Oil & Natural Gas continue to explore opportunities for reusing and recycling produced water for hydraulic fracturing, utilizing water treatment processes including aeration, sedimentation, biological treatment, reverse osmosis, natural evaporation and condensation.