Texas Oil Regulator Opens Probe After Earthquakes Hit the Permian

The Railroad Commission of Texas, the oil regulator in America’s top oil-producing state, has opened a probe after a series of earthquakes hit the Permian basin last week.

Last week, dozens of tremors were registered in counties close to oil and gas operations in Texas.

West Texas was hit by several earthquakes, the largest measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale.

After the series of quakes, the Railroad Commission is investigating wells in which operators have injected salty water that comes out of oil wells.

The so-called disposal wells within two and a half miles of the cluster of quakes in the Camp Springs area are under investigation, Patty Ramon, a spokesperson for the state agency, has told Bloomberg.

The area is about 100 miles northeast of the city of Midland at the heart of the Permian basin.

“In efforts to reduce seismicity possibly caused by underground injection of produced water, several operators in the area have converted deep saltwater disposal wells to shallow saltwater disposal wells within the last year,” RRC said in a statement.

“RRC inspectors are out inspecting saltwater disposal wells within two and a half miles of the cluster of earthquakes this week and the RRC will evaluate next steps that can be taken to mitigate earthquakes. We’ll continue to take measures necessary to protect the environment and residents in the area.”

The dozens of earthquakes in Scurry County, roughly 60 miles west-northwest of Abilene, have raised questions about the role of the oil and gas industry in these events.

“Western Texas, and specifically the Permian Basin, have seen a significant increase in seismicity since about 2019,” Justin Rubinstein, a research geophysicist with the Earthquake Science Center at the U.S. Geological Survey, told Houston Public Media, a service of the University of Houston.

“We believe these earthquakes are being caused by human activity, particularly related to oil and gas operations,” Rubinstein said, referring to last week’s increased seismic activity.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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