Once a well has been drilled and completed, a wellhead is placed on top of the newly completed well to control and regulate the flow of natural gas or oil into a pipeline where it is transported to market through regional and national pipeline systems to your home or business. Telemetry units monitor flow rates, daily volumes and line pressure, allowing Chesapeake to track conditions and remotely control the well's performance, including the ability to shut down a well if necessary. In addition, our employees physically inspect each well, typically on a daily basis, to ensure optimal operation and environmental compliance.

Wellhead 

Wells typically produce naturally occurring saltwater (also known as produced water or brine) found within the natural gas and oil reservoirs. The volume of produced water varies by play. Produced water is separated from the natural gas and/or oil and stored in on-site, above-ground storage tanks, where it remains until it is trucked to a treatment facility or a permitted, closely regulated saltwater disposal well. For additional safety measures, these storage tanks are surrounded by a secondary containment structure. While it is legal to do so through a regulatory permitting process, Chesapeake does not utilize surface discharge for our produced water.

In addition, once all wells on a given location begin producing, the padsite is reduced to the minimum size needed to service the wells. During this stage, the temporary gravel surface is removed from the reclaimed area, topsoil is returned and the land is revegetated.​​​​