EnergyMakers is now publishing its fifth year of Bottomhole Pressure studies across the most active oil and gas basins in the U.S. Here’s our shallow basin-wide Bottomhole Pressure trends as of 2021. (Stay tuned here for deep-well BHP trends!) Only shallow wells in New Mexico are bucking the current pressurization trends, and that is becauseRead 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
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
On May 5th, the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) released a temporary exception for oil and gas storage wells: “16 Texas Administrative Code § 3.95: An exception authorizing underground hydrocarbon storage facility located in a geological formation other than an underground salt formation.” This eases regulations for operators looking to permit a storage well, technically aRead more
EnergyMakers Advisory Group has long been cautioning stakeholders not to be too quick to indict disposal wells for Delaware, Texas area seismicity. Other factors may also be at play in the region. While SWD disposal has proven to be causal to induced seismicity in many areas including Arkansas, Colorado, parts of Texas, and broadly inRead more
When it rains, it pours! By now you have likely heard of the 5.0 earthquake detected in Culberson county, 175 miles W of El Paso, about 26 miles West of Mentone, Texas. I checked on the population of Mentone – the last update was in 2010 with a reported population of 19, which at the time wasRead more
EnergyMakers Advisory Group’s Laura Capper recently shared her perspective on produced water disposal capacity in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico with Energywire. Laura’s thoughts are part of a bigger Energywire story on how regulators in those oil patch states are trying to handle the large volumes of wastewater produced during drilling and completions operations. ThisRead more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week announced a new study of current oil and gas wastewater management requirements to help determine if new regulations are necessary. EPA’s current guidelines cover E&P effluent onshore at the wellhead and at centralized wastewater treatment facilities. But as one EPA official told The Oil & GasRead more
The rebound in oil prices has spurred a dramatic upswing in drilling activity in many parts of the country—and New Mexico is no exception. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), New Mexico’s side of the Permian basin is currently home to about 30,000 wells, with more wells being drilled every day. The practiceRead more