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
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As we expected, the Texas RRC has formally established the Stanton Seismic Response Area (SRA) in Martin County and a small segment of Howard County, due to continuous seismic activity in the region, including a M 4.2 event on December 31, 2020, and a M 4.6 event on December 28, 2021. The RRC attributes theRead more
Image Source: Texas RRC Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area – Up to 2 M Barrels per Day ofSWD Injection held at bay for Area Operators In another blow to SWD operators in Texas, on October 20,2021, the Texas RRC established the Northern Culberson-Reeves (NCR) Seismic Response Area (SRA) due to an increase in 4.0 MRead more
On to Part II: Business and Financial implications for shallow well operators and their users. First, we note that generally across the Midland basin, we see the clearest signs of pressurization amongst the really old EOR wells, which are generally shallow, and tend to be more concentrated near the flanks or edges of the basinRead more
This is the first of a series of observations from EnergyMakers’ New Mexico Deep SWD Report where we explore the practical capacity of New Mexico’s Deep SWD infrastructure and what operators and midstream players can expect going forward. We look back to peak performance of deep SWDs (> 8,000 ft true vertical depth) at the endRead more
Operators appear to be getting bolder as they go deeper, with the Texas RRC’s approval. BHP Billiton successfully permitted three (3) 90,000-bpd saltwater disposal wells recently in the Devonian/Silurian in Reeves county, at depths between 15,000 and 17,000 ft. Only time will tell how much produced water these high-dollar wells will really take; today, fewRead more
Midland-based XRI Holdings, LLC recently completed its Northern Delaware Basin Supersystem, a water pipeline system crossing core oil and gas development areas in New Mexico. The new infrastructure, which spans 125+ miles of Lee and Eddy counties, will be supplied in part by recycled produced water volumes from the company’s own water terminals and treatedRead more
Houston-based oilfield water treatment company H2O Midstream recently announced a deal to acquire all wastewater assets from E&P Sabalo Energy for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives H2O Midstream 37 miles of oilfield water pipelines, nine saltwater disposal wells and four permits for the development of additional disposal wells. The company will now be ableRead more
According to a recent report by the Houston Chronicle, the third week of July saw a drilling permit bonanza in the Lone Star State, with 286 drilling permits filed. Of these, nearly one third (95) were filed for the development of new saltwater disposal (SWD) wells, giving new meaning to the term “drill baby drill”.Read more
Constrained water disposal capacity in some key hydrocarbon producing areas of Oklahoma is making for some complicated water logistics, leading producers to get creative in how to reduce their disposal volumes. EnergyMakers Advisory Group’s Laura Capper shared this, and other, insights in the Feb 2019 issue of The Oil and Gas Investor. In a featureRead more