Water

We understand the public is concerned about water safety, and we take these concerns very seriously. Water is a precious resource and needs to be carefully managed.

Based on years of oil and gas drilling experience, our industry has developed standard drilling practices specifically designed to protect groundwater. Water aquifers are protected with steel casing that is cemented in place. This is a proven technique approved by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la faune (MRNF) to protect water aquifers and avoid any groundwater contamination.

Casing protects aquifers during production, when gas is flowing up the wellbore, as well as during completion operations, such as hydraulic fracturing. The impermeable nature of the Lorraine shale overlying the Utica shale and significant distance between the Lorraine and aquifers mean that the only pathway between hydraulic fracturing fluids and aquifers is via the wellbore. The cemented casing isolates aquifers from the wellbore.

Before beginning drilling operations, we conduct testing on potable water wells located within a 1.0 kilometre radius of our wellsites. These wells are baseline tested against Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs (MDDEP) criteria.