Noble Neighbor Program

The first comprehensive drilling plan approved by the State of Colorado, our Mustang CDP represents a new era of technology and innovation that protects health and safety. Specifically, it is a blueprint for planned energy development on Weld County farmland, utilizing smart infrastructure that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, our footprint and truck traffic. Committed to our Colorado communities, we continue to find better ways to produce the energy our state needs.

We utilize modern flowback technology where possible in the last stage of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Some of the many benefits include eliminating emissions, creating less dust and significantly reducing surface impact and truck traffic. That’s because this innovative technology directs flowback a production separator to pipelines, removing the need for tanks, trucks and equipment. Plus, through technological and operational improvements, it eliminates most equipment needed in the past.

With our Plug and Removal Program, we are removing old facilities from subdivisions and rural areas and restoring these locations to their original condition. By the time our operations and reclamation teams finish work, you would never know an oil and natural gas well had been there in the first place. In many cases, after we reclaim the land, the site can be repurposed for other uses such as playgrounds, dog parks or farmland.

Giving back to our Colorado communities is a large part of what we do at Noble Energy. We build long-term partnerships with local charities and invest time and resources in causes that align with our purpose of bettering people’s lives. Our main areas of focus are health and wellness, environmental stewardship, and education and workforce development.

Safety is our responsibility. We train our team and local first responders in a controlled environment called the Noble Operations and Safety Training Center (NOSTC). Modeled after the training procedures and protocols of the U.S. Air Force, the NOSTC uses equipment that simulates our field operations. This allows us to perform drills and other training exercises that provide invaluable skills and experience – all from our Greeley office.

We created a nerve center for our operations across northern Colorado, where automated oil and natural gas facilities are monitored and controlled remotely in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We call it the Noble Operations Control Center (NOCC). Our production facilities in the field communicate with the NOCC using solar-powered telemetry.

It now takes only 2.5 surface acres to produce the same amount of energy that previously required 400 surface acres – a reduction in land use of more than 99 percent. To put this in perspective, through innovative processes and technology behind our Integrated Development Plan, we utilize two football fields to produce the same amount of energy that previously required more than 300 football fields.

We have a team of trained technicians that monitor and inspect our production facilities and well sites with infrared cameras equipped with advanced thermal imaging technology to detect emissions leaks that cannot be seen with the naked eye. If emission leaks are detected, our skilled technicians are equipped to repair most of them on the spot.

Emissions reduction was the primary intent when we began researching alternative transfer methods. Working with the industry, U.S. Government and Colorado, we identified a system design that also advances safety by keeping truck drivers at ground level throughout the transfer process.