Penn Virginia Corp
16285 Park Ten Place , Suite 500 , Houston, Texas, United States

Penn Virginia Corporation is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, NGLs and natural gas in various domestic onshore regions of the United States, with a primary focus in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. Penn Virginia recently relocated its corporate headquarters from Radnor, Pennsylvania to Houston, Texas.

Operations

Penn Virginia Corporation is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of oil, NGLs and natural gas in various domestic onshore regions of the United States, with a primary focus in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.

The Penn Virginia Way

With the rise of unconventional natural gas and oil production, one topic garnering significant media attention and increased scrutiny by the environmental community is the industry-wide practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.  Fracking involves the injection of water, sand and chemicals under pressure into prospective rock formations to stimulate oil and natural gas production.  This technique has been safely used in the United States by the oil and gas industry for over sixty years in over a million wells. In fact, according to the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), fracking has been used to complete over 90% of the oil and gas wells drilled in the United States. We use this completion technique on substantially all of our wells.  We believe the environmental risk associated with fracking is very low, yet it is important for us to effectively manage this risk. To that end, we have implemented a stringent environmental program that helps us achieve our commitment to safe and responsible resource development.  We strive to design, drill, complete, produce and plug our wells in ways that minimize adverse effects on the environment. Throughout our operations we uphold and preserve the vision and company culture that is Penn Virginia.  As a critical element in our operations and strategy, we engage in hydraulic fracturing in environmentally responsible ways to protect the environment, our landowners, our employees and the communities in which our employees and their families reside and work.

Focus on Safety From the Beginning of the Life of the Well

Before we ever begin drilling, our geologists perform a geological assessment of the site to identify faults, abandoned mines and old wells and to assess the overall geological soundness of our drilling location.  Our geologists weigh all available facts and attempt to choose a location, when feasible, where we can drill multiple laterals off of one pad so that we can minimize surface impact to the surrounding environment, including disruption to trees and wildlife.  Once well locations are identified, we generally meet with the surface owners to discuss the placement of well sites and, where possible, we enter into agreements with the surface owners to compensate them and provide individualized guidelines on our surface use.  In every state where we operate, we use a certified third party environmental laboratory to collect and analyze water samples from a radius of at least 1,500 feet around the well location so that we can determine if contaminants are present prior to our commencing any activities on the land.  We share these water-testing results with landowners.  Studies conducted by respected environmental authorities, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ground Water Protection Counsel and The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, have concluded that fracking is safe and does not pose a threat to human health and poses little to no risk to contamination of underground sources of drinking water.

After drilling is completed and the well is ready to be fracked, we perform the following safety measures

• We pressure test the wellbore for integrity to make sure that no fluid can escape through the protective casing and cement system;
• We install a pressure relief system, which is tested and monitored throughout fracking operations, to monitor the appropriate pressures so that any breach or weakness in the casing would be discovered immediately;
• In the rare event that we encounter abnormal pressure, the pressure relief valve enables the pressure to be dissipated on the surface;
• We routinely run cement bond logs, an acoustic testing method, to provide further confidence in the strength and integrity of the cement casing strings;
• In addition, we recycle oil-based mud and cuttings which reduces landfill volumes and costs, truck hauling, waste disposal and consumption; and
• Where feasible, we extract diesel used during drilling operations and reuse it.

Disposal of Fracking Fluids

Once the well has been fracked, most of the sand introduced while fracking remains underground and holds open the fissures in the rock formation so that the oil and gas can be retrieved.  Some of the water and additives that comprise the fracking fluid eventually flow back up through the well.   In 2011, we began to use predominately a closed loop drilling system where the flowback fluids are temporarily stored in steel tanks, rather than lined pits.  In Texas, the steel tanks we use are open top for the first two to three days and then we use steel tanks that are covered and have pressure relief vents.  In all other areas, we use only covered tanks with pressure relief vents.

Air Emissions

We have installed emission reduction devices on our compressors, and, where practical, our loading and storage tanks and other equipment, and we use BTEX controllers on our dehydration units to reduce air pollutants.  We make every effort to put the well in line and close pits promptly after completion so that we can further reduce emissions from the well site.  Regulations in the states in which we operate establish emissions limits, emissions control requirements, monitoring and test requirements and report requirements to protect and maintain air quality.  We operate in compliance with applicable regulations and, in many cases, we exceed them.

Our contractors are routinely audited:

• Before they can commence our work, our Environmental, Health and Safety group audits our contractors to ensure the adequacy of their environmental, health and safety training;
• If we find their training is deficient, we require them to attend our training sessions;
• We require our contractors to register on ISN (www.isnetworld.com) which collects safety, sustainability, quality and regulatory information and verifies its accuracy; and
• In addition, in 2012, our outside independent internal auditing firm completed a specific environmental, health and safety audit.