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Using a process known as a green completion, Devon has reduced methane emissions by more than 25 billion
cubic feet in the Barnett Shale area of north Texas.
Green completions have been Devons standard practice in the Barnett Shale since 2004. The company uses the
same process to complete wells in New Mexico, Wyoming, Oklahoma and south Texas.
Green completions take place during the clean-up stage of the completion, after a well has been hydraulically
fractured. The clean-up involves removing the water necessary to fracture the well. During this flow back, natural
gas is produced with the water. What makes the well completion green, or environmentally friendly, is that the gas
is separated from the water and placed in a pipeline instead of being released to the atmosphere.
First, a sand separator (shown at right in this photo) filters out any sand,
sending it through a 2-inch pipe into the disposal tank. That filtering
leaves a mixture of natural gas and water. The second piece of
equipment (in the left side of this photo) separates the water, which then
reunites with the sand in the disposal tank. The gas, meanwhile, is
diverted into a separate pipe and eventually is sent by pipeline to a
processing plant.
This process is repeated on Devons typically rural leasehold in the
Barnett Shale. Years ago, green completions were so uncommon that
Devon had to look as far as Wyoming to rent the necessary filtering
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equipment. Now, nearly 4,000 green completions later, that rental equipment is available readily and locally.
Green completions are possible largely because of a team meeting conducted each Friday at Devons field office in
Bridgeport, Texas. During that meeting, Devon employees representing various areas of expertise discuss the
strategy and timing necessary to coordinate pipeline construction and well completions.
The goal is to have a pipeline in place by the scheduled date of the final frack job on any given well. This eliminates
a potential delay that could prevent a green completion.
"You have to have a pipeline in place to perform a green completion, said Jay Ewing, who oversees Devons well
completions in the Barnett Shale."Our luxury here is that we own our own pipeline. That gives us the flexibility to
coordinate well completions with pipeline construction."
Devon performs green completions voluntarily. The procedure generally is not required in the Barnett Shale except
in the city of Fort Worth and at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. The vast majority of Devons Barnett Shale
wells are outside those locales.
We perform green completions because of two core values that are key to Devons success: Always do the right
thing, and be a good neighbor. In the case of our green completions practice, it is the right thing for the environment,
for the community and for our shareholders.
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