Arbuckle

Regulators in Oklahoma said an operator has voluntarily reduced completion operations at a well west of Oklahoma City after a series of small earthquakes rattled the area.

Regulators in Oklahoma issued an earthquake advisory and launched an investigation focused on oil and gas wastewater disposal wells after a series of earthquakes struck the state, including a 4.2-magnitude temblor that struck near Edmond, a suburb of Oklahoma City, on Wednesday night.

Efforts to manage the potential risk for oilfield activity-induced earthquakes in Oklahoma are starting to pay off, state geological and regulatory officials said Tuesday, while acknowledging that additional research is needed for what is a continuing conundrum.

A pair of small earthquakes struck north-central Oklahoma about an hour apart early Thursday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recommended that Oklahoma regulators enact a moratorium on oil and natural gas disposal wells in sensitive areas of the Arbuckle Formation. The agency said it is concerned that the state’s response to injection-induced seismicity is both inconsistent and ineffective.

In its latest move to curb seismic activity, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s (OCC) Oil and Gas Conservation Division (OGCD) ordered more than 400 wastewater injection wells targeting the Arbuckle Formation to reduce their disposal volumes by 40% below 2014 levels over the next two months.

Oklahoma regulators on Tuesday implemented the largest volume reduction plan yet for oil and natural gas disposal wells in the Arbuckle formation in the western part of the state, which covers 5,281 square miles and 245 disposal wells. Meanwhile, the Sierra Club is suing Chesapeake Energy Corp., Devon Energy Corp. and New Dominion LLC for triggering quake activity in Oklahoma and Kansas.

More oil/natural gas wastewater disposal wells have joined the Oklahoma Corporation Commission’s (OCC) action plan for reduced injections following a spate of minor earthquakes around Cushing, OK.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) has ordered two disposal wells to stop operations and for another three wells to reduce their disposal volume after analyzing disposal well and seismicity data in the Cushing area, the agency said Friday.