American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016 - 19

changes are part of the Texas Oil Field
Initiative launched last August by
Commissioner Christi Craddick, which
directed the RRC staff to eliminate
unnecessary regulatory burdens and
reduce compliance costs. ❒

Cushing Quake Pushes
Oklahoma To Rewrite
Disposal Well Controls
OKLAHOMA CITY-The Oklahoma
Corporation Commission's Oil & Gas
Conservation Division unveiled plans
responding to the earthquake that hit the
Cushing, Ok., area on Nov. 6. The
agency informs operators that it is
working on a broader plan that will
encompass a larger area and affect more
Arbuckle disposal wells.
In the wake of the 5.0 magnitude
earthquake reported 1.2 miles west of
Cushing, the OGCD established three
concentric areas to be regulated in the
initial plan: circles six, 10 and 15 miles
in radius centered on the reported
epicenter. The OGCD says its plans
cover 58 disposal wells that inject into
the Arbuckle formation within that area.
Under its plan, all Arbuckle disposal
wells:
* Within six miles must cease
operations;
* Within 10 miles must reduce
injection volumes by 25 percent of their
last 30-day average; and
* Within 15 miles are limited to
injecting no more than their last 30-day
average.
The deadline for shut-in compliance
was Nov. 14, and the volume-limit
compliance deadline was Nov. 21,
OGCD says. Under the directive, six
disposal wells were to be shut in, 16
reduced by 25 percent, and 31 limited in
volume to their 30-day average. The
agency points out that 15 of the
Arbuckle disposal wells covered in this
directive were shut in by a Sept. 3 order,
and an October directive shut in another
four.
The Nov. 6 action follows OGCD's
Nov. 3 directive, issued after a 4.3
magnitude event struck near Pawnee,
Ok., in the state's northeast corner. That
directive covers 38 disposal wells under
OCC jurisdiction and 26 regulated by
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, and uses a similar set of
boundary circles and injection limits.
Under the Pawnee plan, four
Arbuckle disposal wells were shut in,
10 were limited to 25 percent of their
last 30-day average, and eight were

limited to their last 30-day average
injection volumes. The deadline for
compliance was Nov. 10.
"Two years ago, we established the
coordinating council on seismicity.
Regulators continue to target areas for
additional scrutiny that are
experiencing increased seismic activity,
which has led to shutting in disposal
wells or reducing their volumes and
flow pressures in known fault lines
where we believe there is a correlation
to earthquakes," says Oklahoma
Governor Mary Fallin. ❒

First
Class
Act

Sunset Commission
Recommends 'Clean'
RRC Reauthorization

This month's
website exclusives:

Texas' Sunset Advisory Commission
has recommended what the Texas
Alliance of Energy Producers describes
as a "clean bill" without any
controversial recommendations to
reauthorize the Texas Railroad
Commission for 12 years.
The commission's recommendations,
which were announced at a Nov. 10
hearing, will be taken up by the 85th
Texas Legislature when it convenes in
January.
"Issues such as an increase in
bonding costs by small operators and a
name change for the RRC will not be
included in the Sunset Commission's
final decision," the Alliance reports,
"nor will a transfer of hearing activities
to the State Office of Administrative
Hearings."
What is included in the Sunset
Commission's recommendations, the
Alliance continues, are:
* Increased tracking and reporting
by the RRC of violations and
enforcement activities;
* Developing a process for issuing
expedited penalties for minor
violations;
* A pipeline permit fee, estimated
at $425 per application;
* Updating and improving
contracting procedures; and
* Monitoring the state's TexNet
program and ensuring the seismic data
collected are included in the RRC's
injection well permitting process.
Other recommendations the Sunset
Advisory Commission is making to
lawmakers that the Texas Independent
Producers & Royalty Owners
Association mentions include requiring
operators file production reports
electronically, and posting that
information on the RRC's website in a

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DECEMBER 2016 19
American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016

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