AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Railroad Commission has begun work to implement its plan to hopefully reduce seismic activity in West Texas.
Following an increase in quakes in the area, the RRC suspended all deep oil and gas produced water injection in the Gardendale Seismic Response Area going into 2022.
The commission believes deep water injection may be the cause of the increased quakes, so they are looking into finding alternate uses for water.
A new step in the process was launched the first week of March, with the commission implementing an operator-led plan to help eliminate 3.5 or higher magnitude quakes as of Dec. 31, 2023.
This new plan places injection limits on both shallow and deep disposal wells within the Northern Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area. There are 57 shallow wells and 31 deep disposal wells that will be impacted.
Companies utilizing shallow disposal wells will have to be cautious within certain distances from 3.5 magnitude or greater quakes in the Northern Culberson-Reeves SRA.
For deep disposal wells, injection volume will be reduced by 50% by June 30, 2023. Additionally, by June 2022 inactive deep disposal wells will have its permit canceled unless the operator applies for an amended shallow disposal permit instead.
The RRC also hopes this new plan will be able to provide new info on the seismic monitoring stations in the area, which will in turn hopefully provide better data on location and depth of the earthquakes.
According to the RRC, a similar plan is being developed for the Stanton SRA.