Best Management Practices

The oil and gas industry is constantly expanding and growing.  With the aid of new technologies the industry is better able to protect the environment as well as more efficiently meet the growing energy needs of our growing population.  Best Management Practices are industry wide technologies and practices that serve the need of efficiently producing hydrocarbons while still being able to maintain an environmentally friendly approach.

Shale Regions

The shale plays in the North American Region vary greatly, and therefore require many different best management practices based upon their various characteristics. 

The following table shows how the major shale plays in the United States differ in location, hydrocarbon production, and geology.

Formation Depths

The following table shows the different drilling depths for the different shale plays in the United States.

Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid

Hydraulic fracturing fluid is a combination of water, sand, and other chemicals that is designed to fracture the shale formation, keep the fractures open, and efficiently return the oil and gas to the surface.  The water is mainly used to fracture the formation and the sand is used as a proppant.  The other chemical additives, which acount for about 1% of the fracing fluid, serve many purposes.

The following spreadsheet list the BMPs for the stimulation fluid for each of the major shale regions in the United States.

Completion

The following table shows the different completion types and fracture lengths for the different shale plays in the United States that are considered Best Management Practices.