[8] This initiative called Belridge Project covers 770 acres and it is constructed to assist the company's oil extraction process and make it more sustainable.

The preserve encompasses the last two miles (3 km) of riparian habitat along the Kern River, where it drains into Buena Vista Lake.

[11] The master planned community of Vista Del Verde, Aera's first real estate development, followed the decommissioning and cleanup of the 850-acre (3.4 km2) Yorba Linda oil field.

Aera is pursuing approvals to develop this property for residential and commercial uses while devoting more than 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) to recreation uses and open space restoration.

Aera is a participant in Newport Banning Ranch, LLC, which has submitted a proposal to build 1,375 homes, parks, a coastal inn, and a small commercial center on about 153 acres (0.62 km2) of the site, while preserving and restoring more than 55 percent of the property for open space and wildlife habitat uses.

[16] In 2004, a Kern County Superior Court jury awarded the Fred Starrh family more than $7 million, though they originally sought $3 to $4 billion for damages and cleanup.

[21] Aera Energy is also involved in a legal tussle with the state of California over its de facto ban on fracking, an oil field extraction technique.

[22] In 2021, Aera filed a lawsuit against the state after it denied 49 of its fracking permit applications based on climate change concerns.