Two large earthquakes that hit the Permian basin, the top US oil field, recently have rattled the Texas oil industry and put a fresh spotlight on the water disposal practices that can lead to increases in seismic activity, industry consultants said.
A magnitude 5.0 quake struck on Feb. 14, followed by a magnitude 4.7 temblor on Feb. 18, both in Culberson County in West Texas, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The earthquakes happened in an area that is already being watched by Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), the state's oil regulator, because of a jump in seismic activities linked to hydraulic fracturing.
Injection of saltwater, a natural byproduct of oil and gas production, as part of the fracturing process, has been linked to increased seismic activity in oil-producing regions, including in Texas and Oklahoma. In both states, regulators have put limits on wastewater injection as a way of curbing the quakes.
The largest earthquake to rattle Culberson was in 2022, measuring 5.4 in magnitude.
The most recent quakes could serve as tailwind for pending water disposal projects in the Basin, said Kelly Bennett, founder and CEO of B3 Insight, a consultancy offering oilfield water intelligence, as operators look for more ways to dispose of wastewater.
That includes privately held midstream water management company WaterBridge's project in the Delaware Basin to construct and operate produced water handling infrastructure for BPX, with the ability to handle up to 600,000 B/D of water as part of a 10-year commitment, in the next 3 years.
"I think we all agree that the cost of water management is going to have to increase in order to provide a means to transport water away from these areas that are problematic," Bennett said.