Strong earthquakes cause a problem in America’s oil core

A week ago, a 4.5-magnitude earthquake hit Texas in the country’s most prolific shale play – the Permian. Days later, another earthquake shook America’s oil core. And seismic activity may eventually force drilling workers to reduce production.

The Midland Reporter Telegram reported at the time that the December 27 earthquake was the strongest in Texas in the past 10 years. It happened at a depth of 4.3 miles near Stanton. This was followed by a series of earlier earthquakes in December.

In mid-December, the USGS reported four earthquakes in the Midland Ocean within a 24 hour period. The strength of these quakes ranged from 2.9 to 3.7, which isn’t much, but the number was worrying, especially since it came after more tremors were detected by the University of Texas at Austin’s Office of Economic Geology earlier in the year. And after the strongest earthquake, the organizers intervened.

The Texas Railroad banned the injection of borehole sewage into deep wells prior to the major earthquake. After the major earthquake, the commission sent inspectors to the field where the earthquake occurred in an area already under investigation to dispose of sewage into deep wells.

According to Reuters, if the inspection results in a halt to sewage disposal in the area, it could lead to the closure of about 18 waste disposal wells that collectively pump 9,600 barrels of sewage. And if diggers can’t get rid of the wastewater, they can’t really dig.

Hydraulic fracturing, or hydraulic fracturing, has caused an increase in seismic activity that has been one of the main weapons in the arsenal of anti-fracking activists. In fact, according to the US Geological Survey, the practice of cleaving a shale formation to extract the oil in it actually leads to increased seismic activity. Just not the fracking itself. It’s sewage.

Fracking requires huge amounts of liquid, this liquid is called sewage but actually a mixture of water and chemicals, it needs to be disposed of. Disposal is usually done in disposal wells, some too deep to hold more wastewater. These are underground wastewater reservoirs that have been associated with increased seismic activity in some oil regions.

Five years ago, for example, Oklahoma drew media attention due to the dramatic increase in the frequency of earthquakes since the start of the shale boom. The country, one of the largest oil producers in the United States, had little seismic activity before 2009 when fracking really took off. By 2016, Oklahoma was averaging two earthquakes per day—which it averaged a year earlier. So far, earthquakes are just as frequent.

According to the Earthquake Tracker, there have been 10 earthquakes in Oklahoma in the past seven days, 68 in the past 30 days, and 2,063 in the last year. Of course, most of these are minor items, but due to their increasing frequency, they can still cause – and cause – physical damage. The case even led to a lawsuit being filed for insurance coverage against the effects of disposing of wastewater from oil wells. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs in this case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled this month that there is no insurance coverage for bodily injury or property damage caused by seismic activity related to sewage disposal.

Interestingly enough, there was insurance coverage for such damages until a few years ago. With the growth of seismic activity, insurers in Oklahoma began to realize the fact that increasing premiums for earthquake coverage (by 200% in some cases) was not enough to avoid significant losses at this rate of seismic activity. So they began removing this coverage from their service offering and denying earthquake damage claims, attributing instead to settling homes or being too old.

The Permian is a larger oil producer than Oklahoma. It is the largest oil-producing region in the United States and the driver of its production growth, and is seen as significant this year as prices remain comfortably high. But unless producers can find an alternative to injecting wastewater into deep wells, some of that production growth may never occur to avoid turning Texas into the second earthquake capital of the United States after Oklahoma.

The alternatives include trucking the wastewater and disposing it elsewhere, thus distributing the burden of tons of water that, if dumped into an underground well, can cause increased seismic activity. Another alternative is water recycling, and it may be worth motivating drillers to consider it because the water used to drill shale wells does not decrease: according to the Groundwater Protection Council, a single horizontal well requires 45 million liters of water.

The US oil and gas industry generates hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater each year. Getting rid of this water can increase seismic activity in some places. Shutting down disposal wells cannot be a permanent decision, nor is it for an industry that has temporarily returned to growth.

By Irina Slough for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:

.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos