Fracking and earthquakes

[Jersey Boss]

I'm not really a student on what legislators are allowed to do, but is it against the rules to invest at all in companies as a politician?

No.

[bradh]

So he's invested in something he may think eventually gets put in? I really don't see anything wrong with Buffet protecting his interests, or Boehner if he is indeed invested in these companies. And that's how we end up where we are today I guess, unfortunately.

[Jersey Boss]

Yeah, but the difference is Boehner has more influence than Buffett in promoting his investments and stifling competing interests. Anyway the point I was originally making was that as a counterpoint to the insinuation that POTUS is acting at the behest of a well heeled supporter.

[Just the facts]

Even better would be a requirement that refined products NOT be transported across state lines by any means.

I have advocated this for a long time. It wasn't very long ago in human history that only raw materials were transported and final production occurred close to the end user.

[gopokes88]

Koch Pipeline Company Facts | Koch Pipeline Company
Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. (“KPL”) owns or operates about 4,000 miles of pipelines that transport crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas liquids, ethanol and chemicals.
KOCH is a big GOP supporter and Keystone will bolster Koch profits.
And this.
https://laelyn.wordpress.com/2012/01...oney-involved/

No wonder John Boehner is all over President Obama’s decision regarding the Keystone XL pipeline! He put money into the Canadian companies involved!


. . . according to Boehner’s financial disclosure forms, he invested $10,000 to $50,000 each in seven firms that had a stake in Canada’s oil sands, the region that produces the oil the pipeline would transport. The firms include six oil companies — BP, Canadian Natural Resources, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, Devon Energy and Exxon — along with Emerson Electric, which has a contract to provide the digital automation for the first phase of a $9.4 billion Horizon Oil Sands Project in Canada

Put these together as well when adding it all up.

Welcome to Washington.

Although technically the pipeline is owned by TransCanada and wouldn't effect Koch much.

[Plutonic Panda]

What about Earthquakes and Fracking? Is anyone asking that? Or is it all about Fracking and Earthquakes? I mean... we need to be thinking outside the box man. Where is all the sushi in this situation?

[ljbab728]

What about Earthquakes and Fracking? Is anyone asking that? Or is it all about Fracking and Earthquakes? I mean... we need to be thinking outside the box man. Where is all the sushi in this situation?

Sleep, plupan, sleep.

[Midtowner]

Observations of static Coulomb stress triggering of the November 2011 M5.7 Oklahoma earthquake sequence - Sumy - 2014 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth - Wiley Online Library

The evidence is no longer out on this. Injection wells are causing earthquakes. Period. If the legislature doesn't get its act together and figure out a way to hold producers accountable, I'm guessing the courts will.

[Jim Kyle]

More accurately, the paper argues that injection wells triggered that specific 5.7 shock. As for others, it says only that 60% appear to be correlated.

However, it's a strong batch of evidence showing probable cause of the 5.7, which did result in rather extensive property damage. I sincerely doubt that the legal profession will wait for the legislature to do anything; I expect claims to be filed within a very short time. Multi-million dollar damage judgements will provide powerful motivation for legislators to act!

[Just the facts]

It will be interesting to see what the courts rule. I recall there is either a class-action lawsuit already filed or there is a petition to give an existing lawsuit class-action status. At the end of the day someone is going to have to pay for the damage, and be held accountable when someone gets killed (because you know it will happen eventually). I am sure the insurance companies will be quick to claim "industrial accident" when it happens. That is when the **** will hit the fan.

[Bunty]

Observations of static Coulomb stress triggering of the November 2011 M5.7 Oklahoma earthquake sequence - Sumy - 2014 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth - Wiley Online Library

The evidence is no longer out on this. Injection wells are causing earthquakes. Period. If the legislature doesn't get its act together and figure out a way to hold producers accountable, I'm guessing the courts will.

It's the Corporation Commission who should do a better job of getting its act together, so the knuckleheads in the state legislature won't have to do it for them.

[Jersey Boss]

Although technically the pipeline is owned by TransCanada and wouldn't effect Koch much.

Koch Industries stands to gain financially from the pipeline's construction, because the behemoth company owns an estimated 1.1 million acres of leases for Canada's tar sands and the pipeline would likely boost development there. [The New Republic, 2/1/15]

[okatty]

Interesting article in Oklahoman today on disposal wells and cutting back or plugging of wells in 16 counties.

[Pete]

New Stanford study released today:


Geophysicist says study proves injected water triggers quakes in some areas
By: Sarah Terry-Cobo The Journal Record June 18, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY – Wastewater disposal in Oklahoma is causing the state’s ongoing seismic activity in some formations, but not others, said Stanford University geophysics professor Mark Zoback.

In particular, the Arbuckle formation in northern Oklahoma is more susceptible to triggered earthquakes, according to his study published Thursday.
His conclusions call into question the viability of the Mississippi Lime play, which produces more water than other oil and gas plays in the state.

“I’m a strong advocate for responsible oil and gas development. But I don’t think what is happening in Oklahoma is sustainable,” Zoback said.

His research looks at six areas in Oklahoma that experienced dramatic increases in earthquakes and increased fluid injection. Some areas with swarms of near-daily quakes can be tied to wastewater injection. But areas in which fluid is injected into producing reservoirs, known as enhanced oil recovery, haven’t experienced the same responses, he said.

The study, “Oklahoma’s recent earthquakes and saltwater disposal,” published in the journal Science Advances, analyzes Oklahoma Corporation Commission data on injection wells and seismic events through 2013. Complete data for 2014 is not available from the regulatory agency.

Zoback and co-author F. Rall Walsh III found seismic activity near Perry and Cherokee are closely correlated to oil and gas wastewater disposal. The fluid travels through the porous Arbuckle rock formation’s small faults, putting pressure on the granite basement rock, creating pressure buildup and triggering earthquakes.

In Cherokee, wastewater disposal jumped from less than 60 million barrels in 2012 to more than 180 million barrels the following year, 10 times higher than in the early 2000s. The area experienced a dramatic increase in earthquakes in 2014.

However, rock formations in the Ardmore area had high injection volumes, more than 40 million barrels per month, but haven’t experienced a similar pattern of earthquakes. Because nearly all of the fluid injection in that area is into shallower formations for enhanced oil recovery wells, rather than disposal of produced water or flowback from hydraulic fracturing, scientists don’t expect the same pressure buildup would affect critically stressed faults in the granite basement rock.

The main difference between the Ardmore area and the Cherokee and Perry areas seems to be which formation the liquid was drawn from and where it was later injected, he said.

Zoback works closely with the OCC and the Oklahoma Geological Survey to study the Sooner State’s ongoing and unusual earthquake increase.
A.J. Ferate, vice president of government affairs for the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, said Zoback is a well-respected researcher and his theory is worth considering. As with all scientific theories, he said, industry groups must apply the scientific method as they seek a cause for the ongoing seismic activity.

In Pennsylvania, the underground rock formations won’t hold disposed water, so it is recycled, and the remaining water is trucked to neighboring Ohio for disposal. Recycling wastewater is an option in some parts of Oklahoma, but not in the Mississippi Lime, Zoback said.

“The amount of saltwater disposal and produced water at this scale far exceed the capacity for recycling,” he said.

Ferate said his group will continue to work with the OGS and OCC as each group researches Zoback’s findings.

The University of Colorado is researching how to clean up salty, carcinogen-laden produced water so it can be used for agriculture. The project has not yet been field-tested, but it is one possible option for produced water disposal, Ferate said.

“We have to take a step-by-step approach to ensure we’re being responsible with our production,” Ferate said.

Zoback said even if injection volumes in the Arbuckle formation in northern Oklahoma are cut in half, it may take a few years for the rock layers to recover from the pressure. Earthquakes are likely to continue, he said.

“What can you do to maintain this kind of play? Injecting is convenient, as receptive as the Arbuckle is,” he said. “But a magnitude 4 earthquake felt throughout most of Oklahoma every two weeks is not exactly sustainable.”

The study does not address when or if a larger magnitude earthquake, such as a 6 or 7, will happen. But given the magnitude 5.6 quake in Prague in 2011, and a magnitude 7 earthquake about 1,200 years ago, researchers should consider the possibility.

“So there is potential for potentially damaging earthquakes, but a lot more work has to be done,” he said.


Read more: Geophysicist says study proves injected water triggers quakes in some areas | The Journal Record

[bradh]

The University of Colorado is researching how to clean up salty, carcinogen-laden produced water so it can be used for agriculture. The project has not yet been field-tested, but it is one possible option for produced water disposal, Ferate said.

That is awesome, whoever succeeds at this deserves the highest science award for eternity.

[Bunty]

As long as the earthquakes continue to occur way out in the middle of nowhere, such as 12 miles west of Perry where hardly anyone can sense them, the more and more complacent Oklahomans are going to become toward the need to do anything about them. With frequency of earthquakes back up in the land of nowhere after somewhat of a lull, it's highly questionable if the Oklahoma Corporation is doing enough about them.