Weston was engaged by our client, a mid-sized independent oil and gas company, to establish a baseline groundwater sampling program for their Eagle Ford Shale asset. The intention of this program is to provide a defensible characterization of the condition of the groundwater used within a one-mile radius of each oil and gas well prior to drilling.
Weston reviewed and amended their internal program guidance to reflect logistical and practical realities of the South Texas field. We then deployed over 20 environmental professionals who implemented a landowner research and groundwater sampling program to get and stay ahead of the client’s aggressive drilling program of over 30 oil wells per month. Weston has evaluated over 1,900 oil and gas wells and collected over 1,500 samples to date for our client to execute a baseline groundwater sampling program.
Weston worked collaboratively with our client to initiate information-sharing practices that improved the pace of work and clarity of communication in a hectic environment, and reduced the cost of re-work associated with poor quality information. We utilized web-based information management and GIS tools developed specifically to support multi-industry baseline sampling processes to perform this work and store the sampling results. Once the Weston team enters the sampling information stored in this system, it becomes immediately accessible to our client.
The benefits of implementing information sharing programs and practices have allowed the project to be innovative and efficient:
- Our client has been able to use the information and goodwill generated by the baseline sampling program to mitigate their risks and proactively address landowner concerns over the quality of their groundwater.
- Our team optimized the project using information management tools and local resources to execute the work at 75% of the original budget.
- We created a GIS-based project information sharing portal that allows the client instant access to the team’s work product from field notes and photos to GPS locations and analytical results. This allows the combined Weston and client team to immediately work from a single source of information rather than emailing documents back and forth.
- We are typically able to collect pre-drilling groundwater samples within three weeks of receipt of proposed oil and gas well locations. Weston’s responsiveness and reliability regarding schedule allows our client to execute their drilling program without having to be concerned about the risks of not sampling the groundwater before the well is spud.
