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March 26, 2013

Oklahoma Earthquake Was Largest Linked to Injection Wells, New Study Suggests

University of Oklahoma research seismologist Katie Keranen.

A University of Oklahoma seismologist’s research, released today, provides further evidence that Oklahoma’s largest-recorded earthquake was triggered by injection wells used by the oil and gas industry. Katie Keranen’s findings, published today in the geoscience journal Geology, adds to a growing chorus of scientific evidence suggesting that injection and disposal wells are likely causing an uptick of earthquakes in the [...]

March 13, 2013

New Injection Well Rules: Surety Increase Approved, Notification Proposal Nixed

Oklahoma’s oil and gas regulator on Wednesday approved changes to rules for drilling operations. Among the changes approved, was the ability for the commission to require higher surety bonds for injection wells, the Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports. Another injection well rule — which would require operators to notify county commissioners of new injection wells [...]

March 5, 2013

Oklahoma Geological Survey to Monitor Injection Well for Earthquake Activity

Some earthquake seismologists say oil and natural gas disposal wells, like this one near Sparks, Okla., are likely triggering earthquakes in Oklahoma and other states in the mid-continent.

Earthquakes have been increasing in Oklahoma and other states throughout the mid-continent, and many seismologists think this increased seismicity is linked to disposal wells used by the oil and gas industry. The connection has caused oil and gas regulators in some states to re-evaluate how they issue permits for drilling. No such changes will be [...]

February 25, 2013

Oklahoma’s Energy Boom Boosts Unclaimed Oil and Gas Money

Drilling for oil and natural gas has surged, and the pile of cash owed to unknown mineral-rights owners is growing exponentially. The Corporation Commission and the State Treasurer are sitting on a combined $105 million in unclaimed royalty payments, Oklahoma Watch’s Chase Cook reports. The Commission’s account alone has ballooned from $5 million a decade [...]

February 11, 2013

Why the State Doesn’t Regulate Oil and Gas in Osage County

In any other county in Oklahoma, the state’s oil and gas regulator could address the dangerous hydrogen sulfide gas venting from wells. But things are different in Osage County, the Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports. The Corporation Commission has authority in Oklahoma’s 76 other counties, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs regulates drilling in Osage County, [...]

January 31, 2013

Landowners and Oil & Gas Lobbyists Square Off Over Notification

Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas regulator has proposed a rule change that would require disposal well operators to notify more people of nearby development. Some landowners like it, but lobbyists for Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry do not. The Journal Record‘s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports: The agency proposed that saltwater disposal well owners must notify landowners within [...]

January 2, 2013

Colorado Regulators Considering Even Larger Drilling Setbacks

State oil and gas regulators in Colorado are considering rules that would expand the minimum buffer between wells and buildings. Colorado requires 150-foot setbacks in rural areas and 350-foot buffers in urban parts of the state. Earlier this year, regulators there said they were considering making 350 feet the standard in both areas. The latest [...]

December 21, 2012

In Rural Oklahoma, Drilling Hits Close To Home

A parade of trucks pass by Jarod Pachner as he stands in the front yard of his Ellis County home, which is surrounded by oil and gas wells.

In Oklahoma’s oil and gas country, you can’t build a home near a well. But drilling a well next to a home is perfectly legal.

December 18, 2012

Regulators and Energy Industry Debate Proposed Disposal Well Notification Rule

Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas industry is resisting a rule change proposed by the Corporation Commission’s top pollution official. Tim Baker, who manages pollution abatement for the commission’s oil and gas conservation division, suggested the rule at an informal meeting on Wednesday. The Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports: A proposed rule change would require injection [...]

November 26, 2012

Why Oklahoma Gets a Bill When the Oil and Gas Industry Abandons a Well

To drill an oil, gas or disposal well in Oklahoma, operators have to post a bond with the Corporation Commission. But the financial requirements to drill in Oklahoma are the lowest in the region — too low to cover the risk of abandoned wells, the Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports.