{"id":25290,"date":"2015-10-19T15:49:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T20:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=25290"},"modified":"2015-10-19T15:49:13","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T20:49:13","slug":"state-regulators-expand-limits-on-wells-as-earthquakes-shake-near-u-s-oil-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/10\/19\/state-regulators-expand-limits-on-wells-as-earthquakes-shake-near-u-s-oil-hub\/","title":{"rendered":"State Regulators Expand Limits on Wells as Earthquakes Shake Near U.S. Oil Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_14503\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14503\" alt=\"The oil hub in Cushing, Okla.\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/06\/cushing-horizon.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/06\/cushing-horizon.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/06\/cushing-horizon-500x230.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/06\/cushing-horizon-150x69.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2013\/06\/cushing-horizon-300x138.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The oil hub in Cushing, Okla.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>State oil and gas regulators on Friday expanded limits on disposal wells near Cushing, Oklahoma. The shutdowns and volume limits come amid renewed worry about earthquake activity near one of the country\u2019s largest crude oil storage hubs.<!--more--><\/p><p>Scientists have <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/topic\/earthquakes-2\/\">linked<\/a> Oklahoma\u2019s earthquake surge to disposal wells used by the oil and gas industry. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2015\/09\/18\/oil-regulators-shut-down-two-disposal-wells-after-earthquakes-near-cushing\/\">in September<\/a> restricted activity at five such wells near Cushing. On Friday, it expanded the limits, which now cover 13 disposal wells.<\/p><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/2465287-10-19-15-cushing-orders.html\">new restrictions<\/a> include directives to two operators to shut down three disposal wells.<\/p><p>The October actions are stricter for wells close to earthquake activity. The commission has ordered companies with disposal wells located within three miles of the concentrated quake activity to shut down the wells. Companies with disposal wells located within a three to six-mile radius have been ordered to reduce disposal well volumes by 25 percent.<\/p><p>The commission is telling operators of 13 additional disposal wells \u2014 operating in a radius of six to 10 miles from the Cushing quake activity \u2014 to prepare for possible cutbacks.<\/p><p>About 54 million barrels of crude oil was stored at the hub earlier this month, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eia.gov\/petroleum\/supply\/weekly\/\">data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration<\/a> show. Small earthquakes shook the area for weeks before a 4.5-magnitude temblor was recorded in the area on October 10.<\/p><p>Seismic activity has continued in the area, which has alarmed federal researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey and officials at the Department of Homeland Security, which suggest the state has experienced quakes large enough to \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/10\/15\/us\/new-concern-over-quakes-in-oklahoma-near-a-hub-of-us-oil.html\">seriously damage<\/a>\u201d tanks at the strategically important oil hub.<\/p><p>\u201cWith the largest tank farm of its kind in America, in terms of where do we put our limited resources, right now, all attention is being focused on Cushing,\u201d says Corporation Commission spokesman Matt Skinner.<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State oil and gas regulators on Friday expanded limits on disposal wells near Cushing, Oklahoma. The shutdowns and volume limits come amid renewed worry about earthquake activity near one of the country\u2019s largest crude oil storage hubs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":14503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[490],"tags":[489,500,238],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25290"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25290"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25299,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25290\/revisions\/25299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}