Disposal well operators placed nearly 23 percent less saltwater into Oklahoma’s deepest geological formation within the Arbuckle formation in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to the Tulsa World.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission provided the year-end data reports about the earthquake zone. Commission spokesman Matt Skinner said the 2016 volume numbers are mostly complete, but some companies haven’t reported their latest data.
Oklahoma Geological Survey data also showed there were 623 quakes of 3.0 or greater in 2016, a 31 percent reduction from 2015.
State regulators are busy developing a new mandate with tightened wastewater restrictions following a 5.0 magnitude earthquake near Cushing in early November.
“We expect to announce it before the end of the month,” said Matt Skinner, OCC spokesman. Skinner also noted that the Oklahoma Geological Survey “is working on gathering the latest data we need to firm up everything.”
According to OGS data, the main cause of the state’s man-made seismicity is the pressure created by large volumes of saltwater from oil and natural gas production put into the region’s disposal wells.
The peak annual injection volumes occurred in 2014, which was followed by a record number of quakes in 2015. In a December 2015 study, OGS hydrologist Kyle Murray found a 181 percent rise in saltwater injections into the formation from 2009 to 2014, according to the Tulsa World report.