January 2023 Edition
Seneca Resources Company, LLC
Exploration and Production subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company.
At the Forefront of Energy Transition?
National Fuel Gas Company - Seneca Resources' parent company - formed an Energy Transition Steering Committee (ETSC) in the spring of 2021. The group is charged with examining energy developments that may influence the future direction of the NFG companies. Four technical teams were built around initiatives identified by NFG's executive team.?
The initiatives are:
Each Team tracks developments in each topic (technical breakthroughs, project planning, funding, etc.) and looks for opportunities that NFG may benefit from through participation.?
Seneca Resources is most closely involved in the CCUS initiative. The goal of the CCUS team is to identify reservoirs and regions that may be amenable to permanent underground storage of industrially-sourced captured CO2, which would be piped as a supercritical fluid to the location of a reservoir and injected downhole. The team’s biggest challenge is to find formations in fields that are deep and thick enough to store large amounts of CO2. The formation must also be permeable enough for large injection rates and have an impermeable caprock to minimize potential migration out of the target zone.?
Long-term monitoring of the storage zone is also an integral part of any CO2 project. Seneca Resources' Gregory Bank, Sr. Manager, Exploration, leads the group, which includes colleagues from National Fuel’s Gas Supply and Engineering departments and various operations departments at Seneca Resources. Dennis Wingrove from Seneca’s Geoscience team is leading the development of workflows to help NFG understand where CO2 storage opportunities may exist in the Appalachian Basin.
Midstream Commences Equitable Origin Self-Assessment Proces
National Fuel Gas Midstream Company, LLC (Midstream) recently commenced the Equitable Origin self-assessment process, which is the first step on the path to certification.?
The self-assessment helps companies determine whether they are ready to pursue certification by highlighting gaps and opportunities for improvement.?The Equitable Origin EO100TM Standard for Responsible Energy Development is a broad framework that covers many aspects of ESG including:
Midstream will need to demonstrate many of the same performance targets that Seneca was subject to during their certification assessment, however, it will have additional performance targets that are unique to the natural gas gathering/boosting segment.?
Looking Back at 2022
As we look forward to the year ahead, here's a look back at some of our companies' biggest achievements in 2022.?
Environment
Seneca Resources achieved three responsibly sourced gas designations, including certification of 100% of our Appalachian production under Equitable Origin's EO100 Standard for Responsible Energy Production, and the MiQ Standard for Methane Emissions Performance. Seneca also achieved certification under Project Canary's Trustwell program, earning Platinum or Gold ratings for all 121 wells (approximately 300 mcf per day) included in the pilot.
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In March, National Fuel Gas Company released its first-ever Climate Report, furthering our commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures. And September marked the release of the?2021 Corporate Responsibility Report, which highlighted?the significant progress made by Seneca Resources and NFG Midstream toward the companies' methane intensity reduction goals.?
Health & Safety
Seneca Resources hosted its annual contractor safety meeting?in August. The meeting (photographed below) was the first in-person contractor safety meeting since the pandemic and was widely attended.
Seneca's EHS team also completed a Hazard Operability Study (HazOp) and developed safety programs at Highland Field Services for new activities and operations. Hazops will continue through 2023 as Seneca and HFS introduce new technologies and techniques.?Employees?also updated the company's?EHS system, rebuilt the driving safety program, and created in-house Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Serious Injury or Fatality (SIF) programs.
Operations
Seneca Resources hit a new production record in 2022, exceeding 1.2 Bcf in spot daily production.
In September, the company announced the deployment of NexTier Oilfield Solutions' first fully integrated electric frac fleet, which will begin in early 2023. The new fleet is being manufactured by Stewart & Stevenson in Houston, where it will be tested prior to being transported to Pennsylvania. A team of employees traveled there in December to get an update on the progress being made. The initial components of the E-fleet are expected to start rolling out in mid-March.
Seneca Resources' crews also converted natural gas pneumatic devices to compressed air on 23 pads in 2022, significantly lowering emissions. The company also began leveraging green energy - using solar panels to power air pneumatics at a producing pad in Elk County. The pad is 100% emissions-free during optimal conditions.
And Highland Field Services, Seneca's water management subsidiary, continued making progress at its Seven Mile Minerals Facility, including commissioning a state-of-the-art evaporator that will go into production later this year. HFS is also constructing a pipeline distribution system in the Eastern Development Area to deliver fluids from its storage facilities directly to Seneca's pads.
Community
Seneca Serves, Seneca Resources' new employee volunteer program, launched in 2022. Since kicking things off in October, the group has assisted more than ten local organizations throughout Pennsylvania and Houston.
In addition, Seneca Resources and Highland Field Services donated more than $200,000 in 2022, including an $11,000 donation to the UPMC Children's Hospital Free Care Fund, marking our 10th year partnering with the organization