Oilfield Site Preparation: Five Tips for Creating a Successful Foundation

July 5, 2017

Oilfield operations are complex, highly-regulated and subject to some of the largest public scrutiny of any industry. This makes meticulous preparation essential, both to ensure legal compliance and responsible drilling.

To ensure that your site and your business are able to maintain profitable operations for years, you need to thoroughly consider your oilfield site preparation. By doing so, you create a strong foundation for future success.

Oilfield Site Preparation: Five Tips for Success

1. Conduct environmental impact studies.

There are two important reasons that you need to conduct a thorough environmental impact study before starting drilling operations. First, it helps you avoid costly mistakes in the future. If you don’t conduct an accurate study, you may begin the project only to learn that you need to stop, take a step back and make costly revisions to decrease the environmental impact of your operation. This could cost time and money, which is something few oilfield owners and operators can spare.

Second, from a legal and moral standpoint, it’s essential that you conduct your operations in a safe, responsible manner. By completing an environmental impact study before doing anything else, you demonstrate your commitment to eco-responsibility and enhance the future viability of the oil business.

2. Create clear, sturdy and spacious road access.

Once an impact study has been completed as part of the oilfield site preparation, you should begin planning and developing access to your site. You’ll need clear, spacious and level roads that allow commercial vehicles and machinery to access your oilfield. Having an efficient roadway can be the difference between a successful operation and a loss in profitability. As the lifeline to your site, you must ensure they are built to last- your success could depend on them.

3. Clear vegetation.

Part of preparing the area for your oilfield will involve clearing trees, brush and other vegetation to give your facilities enough room to expand. The amount of trees you clear should have been part of your environmental impact study, so be sure to stick closely to the stated amount. Do not exceed this unless you have taken the appropriate measures. Clearing should be done in a safe manner and brush and wood should be disposed of in a responsible way. During this step, it’s best to work with a clearing team that will meet all the specific regulations.

4. Create proper construction pads.

The oilfield pads, which give you a temporary drilling site, should be constructed properly to ensure safe, efficient and eco-friendly drilling. In many cases, the pads can be built from locally-sourced materials to reduce the environmental impact. These materials can include gravel, shell and even local lumber. They can also be made from asphalt or concrete, but once again, the pad should be created within the national and regional regulations.

5. Create a reserve pit.

A reserve pit is a storage area for discarded drilling materials, including mud, rock and water. As ground fluids come to the surface, they carry pieces of rock and drill cuttings, which need to be stored and disposed of properly. A reserve pit is a temporary ground pit located near the drill rig that stores cuttings, drilling mud and other materials that will be safely disposed of later. Be sure that your oilfield site has a ready reserve pit before you start operations.

Give Your Operations the Advantage with Scale Funding

Of course, oilfield site preparation is just the beginning. Oilfield operations need strong financial backing. With Scale Funding, our oilfield factoring services get you paid same-day on your invoices to ensure that as your need for cash flow grows, you are ready to keep operations up and running.

About Scale Funding

Scale Funding is an invoice factoring company serving businesses across the United States. For more information on factoring, call (800) 707-4845 for a free, no-obligation consultation and quote.