Lots of (excellent) reporting on Permian subsurface issues and opportunities these days. Here we provide links to recent stories that will catch you up on the current topics: Midland Reporter Telegram- Induced Seismicity and Subsurface Integrity by Mella McEwen CBS 7 News West Texas – a 4-part Series on Produced Water (link is to PartRead more
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Hi Folks, Just a quick update on the earthquake Friday night near Prague, Oklahoma. It measured 5.1 on the Moment Magnitude scale and was (interestingly) believed to be shallow at 1.8 km, although the error margin on that is 0.26 (up or down). Looks to us like this earthquake straddles a well-delineated fault. There wereRead more
This one will probably come as no surprise to those of you following things closely. The Texas RRC announced Tuesday December 19th an outright ban on Deep Disposal in the Culberson SRA effective January 12, 2024.Starting January 12, 2024, about 215,000 BPD of produced water will be looking for a new outlet. Actually the number is lower,Read more
We’ve all been waiting to see what comes down from the Texas RRC with regards to induced seismicity and SWD management. Here’s what went out at 10:00 am yesterday: https://rrc.texas.gov/media/sm5bzzpg/nto-disposal-well-monitoring-reporting-requirements-in-the-permian-basin-12-19-2023.pdf And here’s our synopsis of the RRC’s guidance (three options) on gathering bottomhole pressure data for all newly permitted or amended SWDs in the PermianRead more
Water-Lovers, There has been lots of discussion since Amanda Drane’s article in the Houston Chronicle and subsequent editorials on induced seismicity in the Permian Basin. I thought I would clarify a few topics. Regarding the 600K bbls/day of “lost” injection capacity (if the Texas RRC were to cut off ALL deep injection) in the NorthRead more
Around 4:30 AM, a 5.3-magnitude earthquake shook west Texas, 23 miles W-SW of Mentone. Karen Work, of Carlsbad, NM, contacted us to let us know that she had felt the early morning earthquake. While there have been no reports of damage, this will certainly impact oil and gas operations in the area. The earthquake occurredRead more
Now we’ll have even more to talk about at PWS starting tomorrow! The Texas RRC just added new requirements for certain new disposal wells, including all new deep disposal wells in the Permian Basin, and all new Shallow wells operating in a Seismic Response Area. For the first time, these new wells will be requiredRead more
Following the 5.4 M earthquake on November 16,2022, the Northern-Culberson Reeves Seismic Response Area (NCR SRA) has been subtly expanded, and a response plan has been amended to reduce injection volumes by 50%. The new restrictions mean New Mexico operators will have to expand their business relationships to get water further into Texas. We’ll be moreRead more
This morning another earthquake occurred in the Culberson SRA region in West Texas, with Texnet currently categorizing the quake as a magnitude M 4.7. That makes 28 earthquakes so far this year which exceed magnitude 4.0 in the Culberson SRA region. While no physical damage occurred, (which would be unlikely at that magnitude), the consistentRead more
As part of our series on Permian SWD water management, we thought we’d share a historical visual of Bottomhole Pressures in the Permian versus Injection volumes, for each of the major sub-basins: Midland, TXDelaware, TXSE New Mexico As you can see, over the 2018-2021 (January) time frame bottomhole pressures, shown as pressure gradients (psi/ft) toRead more