Questar’s environmental management policy at Wyoming facility awarded

Questar received the 2008 “Oil, Gas and Geothermal Development Environmental Best Management Practices (BMP) Award” from the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its development and implementation of a Liquids Gathering System (LGS), multi-well pads and subsurface well heads on the Pinedale Anticline in Sublette County, Wyoming.

The award is given to the company that showcases the finest examples of responsible fluid mineral resource development on BLM-managed public lands, other Federal agency lands, Indian trust lands, or on Federal split estate lands where the surface is privately owned and the BLM manages the mineral estate.

The Questar LGS greatly reduces environmental impacts by decreasing trucking and human activity while also lowering emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and dust. The LGS is a closed loop system that gathers condensate (light oil) and produced water from multi-well pads, pipes these liquids to Central Gathering Facilities where they are further separated and then pipes the liquids to a refinery or to disposal.

Since installation of the LGS in November 2005, it has:

• Eliminated over 35,600 truck trips as of May 1, 2008;
• Minimized surface disturbance, providing significant wildlife habitat benefits;
• Eliminated all liquids storage tanks;
• Significantly lowered NOx emissions due to reduction in truck trips;
• Captured condensate vapor that would have previously been released to the atmosphere; and
• Consolidated production facilities, thereby requiring less surface disturbance.

“Energy companies are being challenged to develop innovative ways to lessen their impacts,” said Diana Hoff, Questar’s general manager for the Pinedale Division. “The LGS on the Pinedale Anticline demonstrates Questar’s responsible development practices as we work to meet the nation’s current and future energy demands while balancing wildlife, habitat, air quality and community.”

Hoff accepted the BLM BMP Award for Questar at the 2008 National Fluid Minerals Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.