2016 AIChE Annual Meeting

(751a) Sustainable Development and Footprint Optimization in Shale Development

Authors

Jin, H., Chevron
The oil and gas industry supplies energy to support daily life and economic growth, globally. At the same time that energy is produced, significant resources and energy are involved in the petroleum production, refining, and transportation processes. As the technologies and engineering systems applied get more complex, we must seek to create less wasteful designs, processes, and systems. This presentation will discuss how we apply sustainable development and footprint optimization concepts to developing shale-based oil and gas reservoirs.

In planning, design, and decision-making we address social, environmental and economic factors to reduce risk, improve performance and create value for the company, the environment and stakeholders. We manage our â??footprintâ? as a system of materials and energy that changes over time. ISO life cycle assessment is used to model our footprint and understand the environmental tradeoffs of different alternatives.

This presentation will define key concepts that guide our thinking, outline the questions we ask, and highlight some success stories and learnings from implementing â??triple bottom lineâ? thinking.

Finally, weâ??ll talk a bit about expanding our view of decision quality beyond a traditional financial analysis to recognize and value the relationships that exist between multiple risks and opportunities â?¦ over the long term.