Watching Government: Tying earthquakes to fracing

Oklahoma Corporation Commission Chairman Robert Anthony noticed one difference immediately at the Natural Gas Committee's session on hydraulic fracturing at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners 2016 Winter Meeting from one at the NARUC Winter Meeting 6 years earlier.

Close to 400 people attended the 2010 discussion, which required a much larger room, he told the 10 state utility commissioners and 40 audience members on Feb. 16 in Washington, DC. Anthony said the proceedings were much livelier in 2010, adding, "We've all learned a lot since then."

Earlier that day, however, two environmental groups-the Sierra Club and Public Justice-filed what they called a "fracking lawsuit" against three independent producers in US District Court for Western Oklahoma in response to increased Sooner State seismic activity.

Anthony reported that he tried to explain to an OCC press official once that fracing-"If you spell it with a 'k', you're against it. If you don't, you don't mind it as much"-actually is related to only about 2% of reported seismic activity. He said the press official added hydraulic fracturing to his news release's headline anyway because he thought it would attract much more attention.

Another speaker agreed that quakes associated with well completions are extremely rare. "There have been fewer than 10 in the US," said Richard J. Simmers, who leads the oil and gas division in Ohio's Department of Natural Resources.

"Oklahoma may have its faults, but they're all geologic," Anthony observed as the session concluded. "My state issued its strongest directive yet today to cut back on oil and gas disposal well volumes near those faults."

The directive's extent

In an order covering 5,281 sq miles and 245 disposal wells going into the Arbuckle formation, the OCC's oil and gas division will require operators to reduce wastewater disposal volumes by more than 500,000 b/d, or about 40%.

Earthquake activity in the region demanded a regional response, Division Director Tim Baker said. "That is why, even as we took actions in various parts of the region in response to specific earthquake events, we were already working on a larger plan," he said.

Baker noted that while the order is a response to seismic activity, it also includes areas that have not experienced a major earthquake yet. It's not only a response to past activity, but also an effort to "hopefully prevent new areas from being involved," he said.

"This has attracted international attention," Anthony said during the NARUC Gas Committee's session. "If you're going to produce oil, you'll also produce many more barrels of wastewater. But only a fraction of this comes from fracing."