Chris Shineldecker has over 31 years of experience in the petroleum and consulting industries. Mr. Shineldecker is a subject matter expert in the upstream oil & gas operations, including technical and environmental aspects of well siting, drilling, completion, production, and abandonment and restoration across the lifecycle of a well, a field, or a play. Chris has managed a wide range of environmental and safety projects in the oil & gas end-market. His technical experience includes multimedia (air, water, waste, safety, and security) permitting and compliance, as well as merger and acquisition due diligence for upstream and midstream petroleum and chemical storage, transmission and compression, and terminal (marine, rail, truck) facilities under federal (i.e., EPA, USCG, DHS, OSHA) and numerous state regulatory programs. He has directed hydraulic fracturing water sourcing and management projects for shale plays across the US. Mr. Shineldecker also has significant process safety management (PSM) and risk management planning (RMP) experience for pipeline uploading and break-out stations, gas plants, and petroleum and chemical terminals, as well as response and remediation oversight for various oil and chemical spills.
In the first decade of his professional career, Mr. Shineldecker was employed as an Exploration Geophysicist involved in seismic interpretation and new venture evaluation for onshore and offshore US, Central and South America, Atlantic Ocean Basins, and Australia. Chris prepared structural, stratigraphic, thermal maturation, and probabilistic migration and entrapment studies in support of the evaluation of prospects and basins. His responsibilities also included directing onshore and offshore seismic acquisition and processing projects.
Prior to his professional career while attending the university in pursuit of his geology degree, Chris worked as on various drilling and work-over rigs in the Michigan Basin.
Representative Experience
Assisted in negotiations between a major oil client, their outside counsel, and the US EPA in consent decree negotiations under US EPA’s Energy Extraction Enforcement Initiative for the review of industry’s compliance with federal environmental regulations and industry best management practices in a cradle to grave approach encompassing site selection and preparation, staging, drilling, completion, and abandonment as applied to hydraulically fractured unconventional wells across the US. The project involved the review, comparison, and benchmarking of Federal and State regulations affecting oil & gas drilling and production activities, as well as the review and comparison of existing industry standards and developing industry best management practices. A major element of this project was the evaluation of the practices and procedures related to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, and the intended and unintended consequences of emissions to the environment from these activities, including releases to air, and to surface and subsurface waters.
Prepared major and minor source air permitting for upstream and midstream petroleum terminals, compression and transmission, storage, petrochemical refining, cogeneration, molten sulfur, anhydrous ammonia, sulfuric acid, fertilizers, and coating applications in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Arizona, and Utah.
Prepared basin-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions calculations and reporting for Barnett Shale and Gulf of Mexico upstream operations, including a review and sensitivity evaluation of changing published emissions factors and potential effects on the emission of various GHG species as affected by the use of catalyst control devices on internal combustion engines.
Prepared and managed air emissions estimates and permitting for upstream and midstream operations, asphalt, coal, and petcoke handling facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Oklahoma, and New Jersey.
Prepared project air emissions and operational impact characterizations for a trans-continental oil pipeline project, including air emissions estimates and permitting for pump stations, break-out stations, and terminal offloading facilities; facilitated discussions between clients and various state regulatory agencies to assure prompt and efficient permit processing to help maintain project schedules.
Prepared project air emissions and operational impact characterizations for an EHSIA project evaluating the potential impacts of regional drilling of deep conventional gas wells in coastal and near shore ecosystems along the Gulf of Mexico.
Provided senior technical review and guidance for the development of a Canadian oil & gas sector emissions guidance compilation document.
Performed and managed air modeling projects using AERMOD, Screen3, RMP Comp, and Cameo/Aloha for LPG, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulates, combustion equipment, TDI, various coatings, and petroleum terminaling activities.
Managed air and solid waste permitting for a gel, drilling mud, and BS&W disposal and recycling facility in Texas.
Managed and performed NPDES permitting for petroleum terminals, manufacturing facilities, power generation facilities, and municipal facilities, including water and waste water treatment plants.
Managed and performed process water, storm water, and wastewater control, optimization and treatment studies in petroleum and chemical terminals, manufacturing facilities, power generation facilities, municipal facilities, and construction sites.
Managed and performed wetlands evaluations, endangered species evaluations, cultural/historic evaluations, and general siting studies for drilling locations, petroleum and chemical terminals, residential developments, and industrial facilities.
Completed or managed multimedia environmental audits of petroleum terminals, manufacturing facilities, power generation facilities, and municipal facilities, including water and waste water treatment plants.
Prepared Process Safety Management (PSM) programs and Risk Management Plans (RMPs), amendments, recertifications, PHAs, and compliance audits for regulated petroleum and chemical facilities handling flammable and/or toxic chemicals in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, and Georgia.
Managed and performed merger/acquisition/divestiture due diligence for upstream facilities in Marcellus Shale, Barnett Shale, Haynesville Shale, and Eagle Ford Shale, as well as traditional exploration areas in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent.
Managed and performed merger/acquisition/divestiture due diligence experience for liquid and LPG terminals across the Gulf Coast.
Managed regulatory white paper and register projects in various shale plays including the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, the Bakken Shale in Montana and Wyoming, and Niobrara Shale in Wyoming, the Utica Shale in Ohio, and the Monterrey Formation in California.
Directed hydraulic fracturing source and flowback water management studies for E&P operations in the Eagle Ford, Haynesville, and Wolfcamp Shale plays in Texas, the Altamont Field area of the Uinta Basin in Utah, and Coal Bed Methane in the Raton Basin of New Mexico.
Performed and managed multimedia HSSE compliance audits for upstream and midstream facilities in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.