Earthquake

An oil and natural gas operator-led response plan in West Texas, which targets seismicity from produced water injection wells in the Permian Basin, has been revised following a 5.4 magnitude earthquake last month. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) on Tuesday implemented several revisions to the seismicity reduction response plan in the Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic…

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) is suspending all disposal well permits to inject oil and gas waste into deep strata within a portion of the Permian Basin following a series of earthquakes. The action, taken earlier in December and set to take effect on Friday (Dec. 31), applies to 33 deep disposal wells within…

Exploration and production companies were told to halt or reduce wastewater injection activity after a magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck northern Oklahoma on Friday. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) directed producers with disposal wells in the Arbuckle formation within three miles of the quake’s epicenter to stop operations and those with wells from three to 10…

Cracked rock layers and pressure pockets riddle Montney Shale gas drilling territory with earthquake hazards in northern British Columbia (BC), according to a report completed for the province’s Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC).

Encana Corp. has paused a well completion operation in the heart of Oklahoma’s stacked oil and gas formations following two earthquakes that measured 3.2- and 3.9-magnitude.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said an earthquake measuring 3.0-magnitude struck central Oklahoma last Saturday just north of Oklahoma City in the Midcontinent.

Natural gas producers have been ordered to review drilling plans for a liquids-rich corner of the Montney shale formation in northeastern British Columbia (BC) after an investigation blamed a Nov. 29 earthquake on hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was put in the hot seat Friday as House lawmakers took the agency to task for its flawed reports on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), most notably the December 2011 report that found groundwater in Pavillion, WY, to be contaminated. That report was later retracted. And before directing any more funds to the EPA for reseach into fracking, the lawmakers demanded that the agency provide Congress with more information on their reseach activities so far.

A powerful earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale struck Mexico Tuesday centered in the state of Guerrero near the Pacific Coast city of Acapulco and rattling Mexico City nearly 250 miles away. There were no initial reports of deaths and the nation’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals appeared to be undamaged.