A new study by Southern Methodist University links abandoned well blowouts in Permian with wastewater injection
Fracking wastewater, injected underground for permanent disposal, traveled 12 miles through geological faults before bursting to the surface through a previously plugged West Texas oil well in 2022, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University . It’s the first study to draw specific links between wastewater injection and recent blowouts in the Permian Basin , the nation’s top producing oil field, where old oil wells have lately begun spraying salty water.
Another blowout adds to mystery of Permian Basin water pressure Injection disposal is currently the primary outlet for the tremendous amount of oil field wastewater, also known as produced water, that flows from fracked oil wells in West Texas. Thousands of injection wells dot the Permian Basin, each reviewed and permitted by Texas’ oil field regulator, the Texas Railroad Commission.
‘Nobody really knows what you’re supposed to do’: Leaking, exploding, abandoned wells wreak havoc in West Texas “These observations suggest that this group of injection wells to the NW of the study area, injecting into the San Andres and Glorieta formations, is responsible for the surface deformation in the region,” the study said. Those wells reached a depth of 4,300 to 3,300 feet.
Thousands of oil, gas wastewater spills threaten property, groundwater, wildlife, livestock in Texas A Railroad Commission staff member said the agency asked operators to check for a source of the leak. The operators told the commission they did not find any. The Railroad Commission during the meeting also said they did not find a well in the agency’s database, and that the nearest injection wells were less than 2 miles away.
Southern Methodist University The Texas Tribune NASA Inside Climate News Engineers For Healthy Energy University Of Texas At Austin U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Center For Injection And Seismicity Research RRC Staples Texas Oil And Gas Association Texas A Railroad Commission Sarah Stogner Laura Briggs Schuyler Wight Katie Smye Todd Staples Dominic Digiulio Patty Ramon Ashley Watt Bill Wight Blackbeard Ramon Texans West Texas Permian Basin Antina Cattle Ranch Crane County Pecos County San Andres Glorieta NW Odessa Ohio Olympic Leaking Blackbeard Operating Rustler Aquifer Goodnight Midstream Geophysical Research Letters
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