Stewardship Tool

The Stewardship Tool has attracted a high level of interest among our customers and other stakeholders as a potential tool for planning development scenarios and holding meaningful discussions about environmental impacts and how to minimize them. The software uses quantitative results to evaluate each phase of a project to manage risk, prevent pollution, minimize waste, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Schlumberger also uses the Stewardship Tool to help embed sustainability into our engineering and operational practices. By modeling efficiency gains at the wellsite, we can enable our customers to drill faster and with better accuracy while lowering environmental impacts. In well stimulation, for example, emissions, air quality, water usage, noise, and chemical usage are among the 19 key performance indicators that can be measured and evaluated to reduce environmental impacts.

Once a base case is established, asset owners and service providers can further optimize the individual components that affect specific environmental concerns. For example, truck traffic is related to the transport of equipment to the wellsite, delivery of water and proppant, and movement of flowback water from the location.

One option to decrease truck traffic would be piping water to the location rather than using trucks. Another option would be using the flowback water at the next wellsite instead of transporting it for offsite disposal. As stakeholders adjust the options available, they can see how the optimized case compares with the base case already established. In addition, by introducing novel technologies engineered to reduce environmental impacts, we can further reduce truck traffic.

For instance, rather than using conventional hydraulic fracturing methods, the HiWAY flow-channel fracturing technique combined with state-of-the-art crosslinked gel fluid technology can decrease not only water usage but also proppant quantities and wellsite equipment requirements—all of which would reduce truck traffic. A reduction in truck traffic translates into a reduction of CO2 emissions.

We are currently using the Stewardship Tool in completions-related new product development where environmental aspects are a critical area of focus. Additionally, a drilling module has been developed and is in the process of being rolled out to drilling-related product development centers. Externally, we are introducing the Stewardship Tool to customers for use in development planning and stakeholder engagement activities.

For more information on the Stewardship Tool and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, please refer to our Global Stewardship Reports, which can be accessed on our public website.