Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake Hits Oklahoma

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurred eight kilometers northwest of Prague, Oklahoma, on February 3 at 05.24 UTC, the U.S. Geological Survey website revealed.

In a statement posted on its website recently, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OKC) noted that its Oil and Gas Conservation Division has issued a directive for a change in the operations of some oil and gas wastewater disposal wells, “as its initial response to mitigate the risk of further seismic activity near the Prague area of Lincoln County”.

“All disposal wells that are permitted to dispose into the Arbuckle formation and are in an area within 10 miles of the February 3, 2024, 5.1 magnitude earthquake are directed to begin the shutdown of operations, with a shutdown to be complete by February 17,” the OKC said in the statement.

“The gradual shutdown process is necessary to avoid sudden pressure changes that could result in more seismic activity,” it added.

In the statement, the OKC highlighted that the Arbuckle formation is the state’s deepest formation. Oil and gas wastewater disposal into the Arbuckle formation has been linked to seismic activity in parts of the state, according to the OKC.

“It should be stressed that that this action is an initial response. Further study may result in new directives,” the OKC said in the statement.

Rigzone has contacted the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma (PAO), the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance (OEPA), and the Natural Gas & Energy Association of Oklahoma (NGEAO) for comment on the OKC statement. At the time of writing, none of the trade groups have responded to Rigzone yet.

In 2022, Oklahoma was the fifth-largest producer of marketed natural gas and the sixth-largest producer of crude oil in the United States, according to an Oklahoma state energy profile page on the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) website, which was last updated in June 2023.

As of January 2022, Oklahoma had five operable petroleum refineries with a combined daily processing capacity of almost 524,000 barrels per calendar day, the EIA page notes, highlighting that this is three percent of the total U.S. crude oil refining capacity.

The benchmark price in the domestic spot market for the U.S. crude oil known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is set at Cushing, Oklahoma, which is home to about 14 percent of the nation’s commercial crude oil storage capacity, the EIA page states.

In a statement posted on its site in May last year, the OKC revealed it had issued a directive reducing the amount of oil and gas wastewater allowed to be disposed within a 10 mile area of a magnitude 4.0 earthquake in the Carney area.

“The directive applies to 23 disposal wells which inject into the Arbuckle formation,” the OKC noted at the time, adding that “those Arbuckle disposal wells operating within six miles of the 4.0 earthquake location are to shut down indefinitely”.

“Arbuckle disposal wells operating with the six to 10 mile area from the earthquake will have their injected volumes limited,” the OKC said in that statement.

“Disposal wells which have an average injection of 500 barrels a day or less in the latest 30 day period must not exceed that average. Disposal wells with average volumes over 500 barrels a day must reduce volume by 50 percent,” it added.

“The volume reductions and shut-ins will be phased-in over a four week period in order to avoid a sudden change of pressure which theoretically could increase the risk of a seismic event,” the OKC continued.

The OKC describes itself as a regulatory agency for the state of Oklahoma with emphasis on the fuel, oil and gas, public utilities, and transportation industries.

PAO describes itself as a newly formed oil and natural gas trade association created by the merger of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association and the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association. OEPA is the only state oil and gas association that specifically promotes and protects the rights of vertical oil and gas producers in Oklahoma, according to its site.

NGEAO is a non-profit membership association comprised of upstream, midstream, and downstream energy industry professionals who rely on Oklahoma’s natural energy resources as their primary business, the organization states on its site. 

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com