Permian Basin Earthquakes Increase as Oil Activity Expands
New Mexico scientists studying the Permian Basin and the growing number of earthquakes in the oil and gas region say there has been a significant increase in seismic activity, although most quakes remain small in size.
Earthquake Activity Surges Since 2018
The increase in quakes started in about 2018, according to Dr. Urbi Basu, a research scientist at the New Mexico Tech Seismological Observatory.
“Previously there was not much activity,” Basu said. “Southeast New Mexico had very few and suddenly we are seeing a lot. They are not high magnitude but they are very frequent.”
In some areas, earthquake activity has climbed to about 400 earthquakes per year, especially in the Delaware Basin near Carlsbad, where the number rose from about 50 per year before 2018.
U.S. Geological Survey Monitoring Increase
The rise in seismic activity has also drawn attention from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), according to the Hobbs News-Sun.
“There were 50 earthquakes greater than 1.8 magnitude on average prior to 2018,” Basu said. “Now the average is 300-400 some years. Seventy to 80 percent are less than a magnitude three.”
Injection Wells Linked to Increased Seismic Activity
If it sounds similar to Oklahoma’s earthquake surge in past years, scientists say the cause is much the same—reinjection of produced water underground, commonly referred to as saltwater disposal wells.
Basu said the increase is human caused and tied to oil and gas production practices.
“The Permian produces a significant amount of daily water production, injection for hydraulic fracturing, and for every barrel of oil there is a barrel of produced water. It is reinjected back into the subsurface. The volume is (average) 4 million barrels per day in New Mexico. The rate it is being injected and the depth causing stress changes in the subsurface.”
Similar Trends Seen in Texas and Oklahoma
Texas has also seen a large increase in the number of earthquakes in the Permian Basin, which stretches from West Texas to Southeast New Mexico.
“In Oklahoma or Texas where these similar things have been happening, the threat mainly is hazards related to humans or buildings nearby,” she said. “These regions where it is happening in New Mexico there is not much population. In terms of those kinds of hazards affecting people, there is not that much.”
The findings highlight ongoing concerns about the link between oilfield wastewater injection and induced seismicity across major U.S. energy-producing regions.
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