Committed to the environment.

Bison Oil & Gas is committed to being an environmental steward of the oil and gas industry. We strive to produce reliable and efficient hydrocarbon energy in the cleanest and most responsible way possible.

Bison has operated in Colorado for over eight years, the same timeline of one of the most dramatic regulatory and environmental rule evolutions of any government in history. Bison has been intimately involved in the rule change process in Colorado and has been at the forefront of compliance as well as the forefront of focus on new technologies and processes that go above and beyond to ensure the well being of our environment, our employees, and the communities we work in.

Commitment to Air Quality

Bison is deeply committed to doing our part on climate change and improving air quality as we produce the vital energy resources that power modern life. The oil and natural gas produced by Bison are among the cleanest in the world. Colorado’s regulatory framework and environmental rules are widely seen as some of the most rigorous in the Nation and even globally and as a Colorado operator we are proud to lead the charge, implementing the best-in-class practices to reduce emissions from our operations. Bison utilizes state-of-the-art technology to reduce emissions and where possible, we eliminate emission sources all together. Our gold standard practices, include selling gas off every stage of separation including capturing and selling tank vapors which is just one of the many practices that substantially limits venting and flaring. Bison also strives to utilize utility line power where feasible and the majority of the company’s production is powered by utility line power, significantly reducing emission sources from engines and pneumatic controllers.

Air Quality - Commitment to Being Best in Class

Bison’s best in class operations include some of the leading practices and innovations for oilfield emission reduction and monitoring practices:

  • 24 Hour Remote Operational & Emissions Monitoring | Rapid Emissions Detection Systems & Remote Shut-in Capabilities

  • Low emissions/ Low GHG Intensity Facility Design| Electric-assisted facility

  • Take-away and pipeline programs to reduce traffic and load-out emissions |Focused Oil, Gas & Water Take-away

  • Elimination of fugitive emissions from pneumatic controllers| Instrument Air-driven Pneumatic Controllers

  • Reducing leaks from components and equipment onsite| Monthly Leak Detection Optical Gas Imaging Program

The end result is Bison excellence –abundant, efficient and affordable energy sourced and produced locally in one of the safest and most environmentally sound manners anywhere.

Water Resources- Protecting Our Water

Protection of Colorado’s precious groundwater is one of Bison’s highest priorities. As such, water well sampling near our oil and gas locations is conducted before drilling and throughout the life of the oil and gas wells, including after well abandonment. We understand that rigorous, science-based approaches are critical to provide assurance of groundwater protection and giving landowners piece of mind. 

A Colorado State Regulatory Report (DWR/COGCC) showed that hydraulic fracturing accounted for approximately 0.08% of total water usage in Colorado in 2010. For reference, agriculture made up 85.5%, municipal and industrial 7.4% of water usage showing that Operators in Colorado continue to be a small percentage of State Water usage.

Bison also connects to water takeaway to reduce tens of thousands of truckloads from our roads, reducing emissions and increasing safety in our communities. Among our top tier practices to protect water quality and supply are the following practices:

  • DILLING| Pit-less and closed-loop drilling systems

  • FLOWBACK| Flowback tanks placed in secondary containment with downgradient protection

  • FLOWBACK| Rapid off-site disposal of flowback water during completions operations to minimize on-location storage

  • PRODUCTION| Engineered, lined secondary containment for storage tanks

  • PRODUCTION| Automated tank fluid level monitoring, facility pressure monitoring, and remote well shut-in capability

  • ALL PHASES OF OPERATIONS| Bison has operations personnel that inspect the facilities around the clock , rain, snow or shine.

  • ALL PHASES OF OPERATIONS| Routine maintenance is conducted for leak prevention

  • ALL PHASES OF OPERATIONS| Robust Stormwater BMPs constructed and maintained on pad

Land. Reducing Our Footprint

A cornerstone of the Bison’s commitment to excellence is how we take care of and leave the land. We pride ourselves on the reclamation practices we implement during the entire lifecycle of our operations. These practices ensure that we ultimately restore the land to its functional ecosystem. We take our commitment to restoration of the land seriously and through our acquisitions we have developed a very robust reclamation and asset retirement plan for wells at the end of their production life. Our reclamation process works to protect our groundwater, restore the landscape to a natural state, protect against underground leaks and ensure we can restore land to it’s prior use as the habitat of native or domestic creates alike. Ways in which we exceed State requirements in the reclamation process: excess cement over producing formations; courtesy plugs; excess cement coverage over groundwater (even potential groundwater); multiple plugs/barriers between productive formation and groundwater.

  • PREVENTATIVE| Conduct rigorous biological surveys to understand the potential habitat and ecosystem prior to new operations

  • MITIGATION| Consult with State Parks & Wildlife regulators on best management practices for relevant habitat

  • RESTORATIVE| Utilize recommended seed mixes to restore land native habitat

  • PREVENTATIVE| Implement a rigorous spill reporting and remediation program to prevent pollution and rapidly address issues

  • RESTORATIVE| Robust and active plugging and abandonment program to ensure responsible practices for asset retirement and final reclamation

  • PREVENTATIVE| Topsoil studies to determine depth of topsoil to stockpile for reclamation to ensure proper reclamation/ vegetation regrowth

  • RESTORATIVE| Land reclamation process including interim reclamation until final reclamation is put in place; returning the land back to how it was before we were there; returning the land to reflect pre-disturbance vegetation

Bison Culture: Being Part of the Herd

We believe our greatest asset is our people. As such, it is through things like our core values, our robust benefit program, and our local approach that makes Bison not only a responsible partner in our communities, but a great place to build a career. We view governance as internal and external responsibilities to good-faith business practices, ethical management and integrity in leadership and decision making. This is reflected in our core values, and in our goals to be responsible operators both within our organization and as leaders in the community.