Disposal

After a 4.0-magnitude earthquake in North Texas on Thursday, four area drilling waste disposal well operators have shut down operations at five wells while data on seismicity in the area is collected. Meanwhile, Oklahoma injection well operators are living in a different world following quake-minded regulatory initiatives.

A recent swarm of modest earthquakes in the Irving, TX, area drew a substantial amount of media attention, and much of it pointed a finger at Barnett Shale drilling activities such as hydraulic fracturing and the injection of drilling waste into disposal wells. It’s too soon to lay any blame, said a seismologist writing in the Dallas Morning News.

Seeking the cause of an increased number of small earthquakes, Oklahoma officials temporarily shut a disposal well that had been drilled too deep near the Cushing, OK, oil pipeline and storage hub (see Shale Daily, Oct. 15). While not assigning blame, they said the depth of the disposal well could have contributed to the outbreak of seismic activity.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) on Tuesday adopted rule changes that are intended to more closely regulate drilling waste disposal wells in areas of the state where there has been or could be heightened seismic activity.

Minor earthquakes blamed on drilling waste disposal wells have been shaking up small towns overlying the Barnett Shale of North Texas for a while now. On Monday, state lawmakers put their ears to the ground during the first hearing of a subcommittee formed on the matter, hearing from local mayors, academic, environmental, regulatory and industry representatives.

New permit requirements are set for oil, natural gas and saltwater disposal wells in North Dakota’s Williston Basin, the Oil/Gas Division in the state Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) said on Wednesday. They are effective June 1.

GreenHunter Resources Inc. on Monday said its disposal volumes increased by 120% in 2013, going from 2.1 million barrels in 2012 to 4.7 million last year, driven largely by its operations in the Appalachian Basin.

As drilling increases in the Marcellus and Utica shales, researchers from the Battelle Memorial Institute are studying the geology and operations of wastewater injection wells in four states, with the hope that the data collected will ensure that future wells are drilled in safe locations.

Millennium Pipeline Co. LLCis holding a binding open season through Friday (Sept. 13) on a proposal to ship more Marcellus Shale natural gas through an interconnection withDominion Transmission Inc.in Horseheads, NY, near Pennsylvania. The bid is being solicited for FT-1 capacity, with the interconnection expected to transport about 200,000 Dth/d by Nov. 1, 2014. Currently, the maximum reservation rate under Rate Schedule FT-1 is a daily rate of 64.99 cents/Dth. “This is a new open season, and it is to provide additional flexibility to the existing Millennium system,” Senior Vice PresidentStan BrownelltoldNGI’s Shale Daily. Brownell runs commercial operations. “This will be our first interconnect with the Dominion system.” For information call (845) 620-1300 or emailbrownell@millenniumpipeline.com.