The Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Division issued a release today outlining various actions intended to limit seismic activity in the state as related to wastewater disposal wells.
At the heart of the action, 1,116 square miles will be affected, including 48 Arbuckle-basin disposal wells within OCC jurisdiction and 19 Arbuckle-basin disposal wells within EPA jurisdiction. (The Osage Nation — and thus Osage County — is within EPA jurisdiction.)
In all, 67 Arbuckle disposal wells will be affected as a result, either through closing or reducing disposal volumes.
Thirty-two wells are being ordered to cease operations. Additionally, wells that may continue to operate must reduce their volume by a cumulative total of 40,000 barrels a day.
In Monday’s release, the new action is described as a “collaborative effort” on the part of OCC’s Oil and Gas Division and the Environmental Protection Agency. The action comes on the heels of of a 5.8 earthquake that occurred in the Pawnee area on Sept. 3 and is based on new fault data as revealed through the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey.
At OCC’s request, the Oklahoma Legislature last year granted the regulatory body emergency authority with regard to manipulating injection-well activity. Today’s action falls within that emergency authority and is “mandatory” for all relevant operators in the area.
A map issued with the release illustrates the location of fault lines in the affected area as well as the location of wells designated to either reduce daily volumes or be shut in completely. Colored dots represent the location of earthquakes in the area, with increasingly darker colors indicating stronger quakes.
According to a list accompanying the OCC’s release, 16 operators will be affected, with White Star Petroleum operating 14 of the 67 affected wells (almost 21 percent).
On Sunday evening, CBS’ 60 Minutes re-broadcast its piece from this summer highlighting Oklahoma’s earthquake issues.
