Another quake in Oklahoma - Injection Well issue?

[Bob]

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck north Oklahoma City early on New Year's Day, the latest in a series of temblors in the area in recent days that's prompted state regulators to call for more restrictions on oil and gas operators.

No injuries and only minor damage were reported with the quake, which struck at 5:39 a.m. Friday near Edmond, about 16 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"We came out pretty good," said Mike Stewart, head golf professional at Fairfax Golf Club located near the epicenter. "I heard the earthquake, I expected some sort of damage, but all we had was some pictures fall, no broken stuff."

The city of Edmond reported about 4,400 power outages in the area shortly after the quake, but it was not clear if the two were related and power was restored within a few hours.

The temblor is the latest of at least a dozen since Tuesday when a 4.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded.

Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world, with the number of quakes magnitude 3.0 or greater skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 800 so far this year. Many of the earthquakes are occurring in swarms in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater — a byproduct of oil and gas production — deep into the earth. As a result, state regulators have begun reducing the volume or shutting down disposal wells in response.

However, the Edmond area has not previously been associated with the activity.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission issued a statement Friday saying its Oil and Gas Division staff is taking action in response to the earthquakes in Edmond and that details should be available Monday.

"The issue is extremely complex.."

http://cc.amazingcounters.com/counter.php?i=3190880&c=9572953

[ghostrider]

I live 92 miles north east of Edmond , friends say that quake felt like it lasted forever , shaking the pictures off the wall ... that quake was more shallow than officially reported, for some reson people were more spooked over that one than others ... animals have been acting strange all week ... there are injection wells everywhere ... even people with only one acre to their land , if there is oil there , they have a well in the front yard ...

[Bob]

I live 92 miles north east of Edmond , friends say that quake felt like it lasted forever , shaking the pictures off the wall ... that quake was more shallow than officially reported, for some reson people were more spooked over that one than others ... animals have been acting strange all week ... there are injection wells everywhere ... even people with only one acre to their land , if there is oil there , they have a well in the front yard ...

I have a few threads up on the injection wells. (Mostly the Texas disposal wells)..

Not only are they most likely responsible for putting the tension in the ground (toxic water is injected under extreme pressure), when such is done where there are other older oil or gas wells in the area, the chance that the casing/tubing in the older wells (which may NOT necessarily been properly plugged) could leak, and the formations which are being "injected into" by the disposal wells, can feed INTO those improperly plugged wells, and leak UPWARDS into the water table and into other formations..

It's not conjecture that improperly plugged wells exist in Oklahoma, wells from the early 1900's exist which the Corporate Commission (Oklahoma's oil and gas commission) cannot FIND the well to verify plugging was performed properly.. (One can visit their website and check old reports and new to see what is happening).. It is terrible..

[ghostrider]

They had an issue with large storage tanks leaking as well, many tanks were required by law to be dug up and redone. .. the expense of reconstruction put a lot of mom n pop stores out of business and drove prices up to pay for the process of making them safer ...underground caverns once filled with oil now are empty or filled with contaminated waste water, not to mention shifting and sinkholes. ..

[lizfrench]

Yes, we are here in the Deer Creek area and were shaken up a few times now. I never know if these quakes are part of the natural earth changes we are supposed to be experiencing at this point in time or if they are man-made. Either way it is bizarre...Oklahoma never had earthquakes until a few years ago.

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I have been told there are plates that exist along the I35 south area.

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Or should I say a fault line

[Bob]

Yes, we are here in the Deer Creek area and were shaken up a few times now. I never know if these quakes are part of the natural earth changes we are supposed to be experiencing at this point in time or if they are man-made. Either way it is bizarre...Oklahoma never had earthquakes until a few years ago.

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I have been told there are plates that exist along the I35 south area.

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Or should I say a fault line

These are the major published faults in the Counties listed..

There are the microfaults, and many of the "hidden" faults that aren't talked about.


http://blogs.agu.org/tremblingearth/files/2011/11/wilzettafault.png

[Bob]

This is an interesting animated map showing locations over the years:


http://www.okgeosurvey1.gov/level2/okeqcat/1977.2001.animated.gif

[Bob]

Class II UIC well definition -


http://www.occeweb.com/og/Oklahoma%20Class%20II%20UIC%20Wells.jpg

Use of Class II wells
Class II wells are used only to inject fluids associated with oil and natural gas production. Class II fluids are primarily brines (salt water) that are brought to the surface while producing oil and gas. It is estimated that over 2 billion gallons of brine are injected in the United States every day. Most oil and gas injection wells are in Texas, California, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

The number of Class II wells varies from year to year based on fluctuations in oil and gas demand and production.

Approximately 180,000 Class II wells are in operation in the United States.

Class II wells fall into one of three categories.

Disposal wells
Enhanced recovery wells
Hydrocarbon storage wells


EDUCATION

Class II well types

Disposal wells
During oil and gas extraction, brines are also brought to the surface. Brines are separated from hydrocarbons at the surface and reinjected into the same or similar underground formations for disposal. Wastewater from hydraulic fracturing activities can also be injected into Class II wells.

Class II disposal wells make up about 20 percent of the total number of Class II wells.

Enhanced recovery wells
Fluids consisting of brine, freshwater, steam, polymers, or carbon dioxide are injected into oil-bearing formations to recover residual oil and in limited applications, natural gas.

The injected fluids thin (decrease the viscosity) or displace small amounts of extractable oil and gas. Oil and gas is then available for recovery. In a typical configuration, a single injection well is surrounded by multiple production wells that bring oil and gas to the surface.

The UIC program does not regulate wells that are solely used for production. However, EPA does have authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing: The process of using high pressure to pump sand along with water and other fluids into subsurface rock formations in order to improve flow of oil and gas into a well-bore.

When diesel fuels are used in fluids or propping agents. During hydraulic fracturing, another enhanced recovery process, a viscous fluid is injected under high pressure until the desired fracturing is achieved, followed by a proppant such as sand. The pressure is then released and the proppant holds the fractures open to allow fluid to return to the well.

Enhanced recovery wells are the most numerous type of Class II wells. They represent as much as 80 percent of the total number of Class II wells.

Hydrocarbon storage wells

Liquid hydrocarbons are injected into underground formations (such as salt caverns) where they are stored, generally, as part of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Over 100 liquid hydrocarbon storage wells operate in the United States.

reference: http://www.deq.state.ok.us/lpdnew/UIC/UIC.html

Seems that taking a close look at the enhanced recovery wells, and the disposal wells are in order when hidden underground faulting exists..

[lizfrench]

Thank you for the excellent source material Bob!

[Bob]

Two more quakes in Oklahoma over the night.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The state commission that regulates Oklahoma's oil and gas industry ordered some injection well operators to reduce wastewater disposal volumes on Monday after at least a dozen earthquakes hit an area north of Oklahoma City in less than a week.

Disposal wells, not Fraking is being squarely indicated as triggering the earthquakes - when high pressure waste water is injected into the wells to "dispose of it safely" (hmmm)... if there are faults in the area, under pressure, the added liquid causes expansion, movement and additional fracturing. So it is not a "frak job" to open up rocks for a new well, it is massively forcing a LOT of water waste into underground locations.

This practice of disposal is not limited to OIL/GAS field operations.

WASTEWATER disposal from even sewage plants is happening, injecting greywater deep into the earth in a similar manner to the energy industry field's practices.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Deep_injection_well.jpg

In Hawaii, there is no "oil exploration" but there is wastewater injection.. The County of Maui owns and operates 18 wells: eight in Kahului, four in Lahaina, three in Kihei and three in Kaunakakai on Molokai. Seventeen of the injection wells in Maui County range in depth from 180 to 385 feet; Molokai has one that is 29 feet deep. That's not so deep is it?

Prior to the mid-1970s before the County of Maui put in injection wells to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, raw, untreated sewage was discharged directly into near-shore ocean waters. (ewwwww)

Why do this? M O N E Y It is more cost effective to dispose out-of-sight-out-of-mind underground. Evaporation treatment systems have been developed which can boil off the water, or recover the water as "fresh treated" water, extracting the metals and salts out of the wastes. Like with re-cycling..

But to squeak and squeeze every bit of coin out of the "industry's" products, the lowest cost (and damaging) methods are often used for "disposal".

[Bob]

Background - Oklahoma has become one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the world.

The number of quakes magnitude 3.0 or greater is skyrocketing from a few dozen in 2012 to more than 800 in 2015.

Many of the earthquakes happen in "swarms" in areas where injection wells pump salty wastewater — a byproduct of oil and gas production — deep into the earth.

George Choy, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist in Denver, said studies unequivocally confirm that earthquakes in certain areas have been induced by such waste-water disposal.

About 200 million "barrels" (or 8,400,000,000 gallons) of waste-water has been disposed of deep underground in "disposal wells" in Oklahoma each month in 2015, he said.


The response plan announced Monday calls for one well located 3.5 miles from the center of earthquake activity near Edmond to reduce disposal volumes by 50 percent and four other located between six and 10 miles away by 25 percent. Other wells within 15 miles of the activity will conduct "reservoir pressure testing".

Compliance with the plan is voluntary at this point, though none of the operators have raised objections.

The commission said the operator of the well closest to the earthquake activity, Pedestal Oil Company Inc., has agreed to suspend operations entirely to assist the agency's research effort.

The operator of another well, Devon Energy Production Co., has also agreed to suspend operations, and no objections have been raised by the operators of the other wells

[lizfrench]

Two more quakes in Oklahoma over the night.

Disposal wells, not Fraking is being squarely indicated as triggering the earthquakes - when high pressure waste water is injected into the wells to "dispose of it safely" (hmmm)...
Why do this? M O N E Y It is more cost effective to dispose out-of-sight-out-of-mind underground.
But to squeak and squeeze every bit of coin out of the "industry's" products, the lowest cost (and damaging) methods are often used for "disposal".

Yes thank you for clarifying that. It seems tonight the national mainstream news media is spinning it as "fracking in Oklahoma causing the earthquakes".

[Bob]

17 overnight quakes in Oklahoma leave citizens shaken, concerned


http://www.pennenergy.com/content/dam/Pennenergy/online-articles/2015/November/frac_job.JPG

Wastewater disposal wells, again..

“It’s a tough reality for everyone in the industry,” says John Chris, a recently laid off oil field worker. “We try to change processes, make adjustments, but then we lose our jobs.”

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.7 quake hit just before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday about 20 miles northwest of Fairview, Oklahoma, and a magnitude 4.8 quake struck about a half mile away less than a minute later. A magnitude 4.0 quake was recorded in the area just after 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

More than a dozen smaller earthquakes were recorded by the USGS on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.


Hundreds of people have reported feeling the quakes in Kansas and Oklahoma.

There were also reports to the USGS that the quake was felt hundreds of miles away in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas and Wisconsin.

[Bob]

The state of Oklahoma avoids tough measures to curtain earthquakes due to injection wells.

(Source (http://www.pennenergy.com/articles/pennenergy/2016/01/oil-gas-news-more-quakes-rattle-oklahoma-but-state-avoids-tough-measures.html?cmpid=EnlDailyPetroJanuary192016&eid=288137699&bid=1282667))

According to earthquake experts, the pattern fits recent peer-reviewed studies that suggest injecting high volumes of wastewater could aggravate natural faults. In Oklahoma's six most earthquake-prone counties, the volume of wastewater disposal increased more than threefold from 2012 to 2014.

The past few weeks have been especially nerve-wracking.

Seventy-eight quakes of 2.7 or stronger occurred in the first half of January, more than in all of 2012. The recent quakes have generally been more powerful too, with eight of magnitude 4 or higher.

"What concerns me is what is happening to our homes through all these earthquakes," said Mary Beth McFadden of Fairview, a town about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City that has had six quakes of magnitude 4 since the start of the year. "It's your home being put in that position that you have no control over."

Last week, the state told companies to reduce wastewater injections at 27 nearby disposal wells.

For decades, drilling companies have disposed of oilfield wastewater — the subterranean saltwater that comes to the surface with oil and gas, and liquid drilling chemicals — by pumping it back underground. But in recent years, improved technology has allowed for injecting more wastewater faster so more oil and gas can be produced.

Around here, above the Arbuckle geologic formation of limestone, water under pressure can set off a fault if there's enough tension, according to interviews with 10 earthquake experts.

Oklahoma regulators directed the operators of 347 wells to check the depth of their injections, then three months later issued a broader order to avoid the Arbuckle's "basement." But by the end of November, the state had asked for volume cutbacks in fewer than 90 of the about 1,000 wells in a key area.

Oklahoma Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said research suggested the biggest danger was in the crystalline basement below the porous underground Arbuckle formation.

[EsmaEverheart]

Yes, I felt the earthquake too. I was afraid that my house was going to come down if it hadn't stopped shaking when it did. One major problem in Oklahoma is that too many people rely on Oil Field jobs and Oil Companies ingrain it into their employees that they will lose their jobs over this. It gets really tedious when I try to explain to friends and family that it is injection wells causing these earthquakes and they keep denying it.

Yesterday I saw a news story on KFOR (a local news station) that Insurance Companies are now amending Earthquake Insurance Polices to state that if the Earthquake damage was caused by an injection well that they would not pay for damage.

http://kfor.com/2016/01/18/the-situation-is-getting-worse-oklahomans-claim-insurance-companies-refuse-to-cover-certain-earthquake-damage/

And still people won't admit that it is injection wells causing the earthquakes.

[Bob]

Slight Progress.

Sandridge Energy Inc., of Oklahoma City, has agreed to reduce the volume of waste-waste (associated water from oil production and waste frak water) going into "disposal wells" in the Medford and Cherokee-Byron areas.

(Source (http://earthquakes.ok.gov/news/)) - http://earthquakes.ok.gov/news/

Sandridge Energy has said it will "convert" some of those wells from disposal to research operations. (hmm.. we've heard what research operations are about haven't we? think whalewars and japanese whaling operations, calling it "research" to get around the laws...)

On the 13th January, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division implemented a plan in response to recent earthquakes in the Fairview area. The plan calls for changes to the operations of oil and gas wastewater disposal wells in the area that dispose into the Arbuckle formation. Arbuckle is the name of a somewhat porous zone that is right above the "crystalline basement" (bedrock).

Three disposal wells will be closed entirely, OCC said.

Four other wells, plus another previously unused well, will be monitored by the Oklahoma Geological Survey for earthquake research.

In addition, Sandridge also agreed to reduce the amount of wastewater injected into about 40 other wells, OCC said.

Separately, Sandridge Exploration & Production LLC was named in a lawsuit filed by two homeowners from Guthrie and Choctaw. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Oklahoma State District Court in Logan County, also named Chesapeake Operating LLC, New Dominion LLC, and Devon Energy Production Co. LP.

The residents said their real estate property suffered damages from earthquakes, which they blamed on injection well operations.

In a class-action lawsuit, they asked for compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.


http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/lt/lt_cache/thumbnail/960/img/photos/2015/11/30/12/fc/earthquake_map.jpg

Who are the other companies running "disposal wells" ?

A different lawsuit filed in Oklahoma State District Court in Oklahoma County named:

Devon Energy Production Co. LP,
Sundance Energy Oklahoma LCC,
Grayhorse Operating Inc.,
Pedestal Oil Co. Inc.,
New Dominion LLC,
RC Taylor Operating Co. LLC,
TNT Operating Co.,
White Operating Co.,
Rainbo Service Co.,
Marjo Operating Mid-Continent LLC,
Special Energy Corp., and
Northport Production Co.


That lawsuit was filed by several individuals also claiming property damage from earthquakes.

The lawsuit said defendants used disposal wells in an unsafe manner. In asking for permanent injunctive relief along with damages, the lawsuit claimed negligence, saying the disposal wells are near faults in proximity to populated areas.


http://www.sott.net/image/s14/289465/full/oklahoma_earthquakes_2013_2015.jpg

[Bob]

5.1 and 3.9 Magnitude Earthquakes Recorded in Oklahoma..

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook northwest Oklahoma and was felt in seven other states on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, the third-strongest temblor ever recorded in the state where the power and frequency of earthquakes has dramatically increased in recent years.

The earthquake centered about 17 miles north of Fairview in northwestern Oklahoma occurred at 11:07 a.m. and was reportedly felt across Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas, the USGS said. A second quake measured at 3.9 magnitude struck ten minutes later, followed at 11:41 a.m. by a 2.5 magnitude quake and at 12:21 p.m. by a 3.5 magnitude temblor.

Oklahoma's stronger and more frequent earthquakes have been linked to the injection into the ground of the briny wastewater left over from oil and gas production. All four earthquakes Saturday were in the same lightly populated area near Fairview, a town of about 2,600 that's about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City. The area has had several quakes of magnitude 4 since the start of the year.

Injection well problem once again..