American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2017 - 81

ConventionSection: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners

reports on fluid volumes and pressures.
RRC's efforts have not shielded it
from criticism for a perceived lack of action to protect the public from induced
seismic events. In July 2016, the Dallas
Morning News reported on a study by
geophysicists at Southern Methodist University that compared increases in fluid
injection rates with seismic activity. It
concluded that a correlation between the
two was "plausible." Later, the paper
published an opposition commentary that
faulted the RRC for not closing the pertinent disposal wells and urged the commission to restrict fluid injection in all
quake-prone regions of the state.
RRC Chairwoman Christi Craddick
defended the commission's response in a
published report, saying there was but a
single earthquake in the state between
October and January.
The commission "has done a good
job with our rules, and companies have
been more thoughtful," Craddick is quoted.
"We have turned down about a third of
injection-well permit applications, though
operators can ask for a hearing. Part of it
is that people are more aware and paying
a lot more attention."
Delayed Start
In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed
HB 2, which created the TexNet Seismic
Monitoring Program with biennial funding
of $4.47 million. In authorizing TexNet,
the legislature "tasked us with helping to
locate and determine the origins of earthquakes in Texas, and where they may
have been caused by human activity,
helping to prevent them from occurring
in the future," says Alexandros Savvaidis,
the seismologist leading the program.
That program, which is hosted by the
Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin, is supported by
a nine-member panel charged with advising
researchers on use of funding, developing
collaborative research with other universities
in Texas, and with oversight and production
of status reports to the governor and legislature. The advisory committee held its
first meeting in June, followed by meetings
in September and October. Its first status
report was released in December.
"The program could not spend money
until its budget was approved by the advisory committee," observes TIPRO President Ed Longanecker. "Now the first
batch of monitors is in place and has
started collecting data."
The program calls for installing 32 per-

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Existing seismic station
New auxiliary seismic station

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TexNet has released a map of the existing and planned seismic monitors scattered
across Texas. Directed by the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas,
TexNet's network of seismic monitors and a related research program are intended to
shed light on any earthquake activity in the state.

manent seismic monitors to augment 17
existing monitors scattered across the state.
A TexNet report indicates the network is
intended to detect earthquakes with a magnitude of at least 2.0, events that take place
near urban areas, or seismic activity "that
could be induced by human activity."
TexNet staff also will have access to 36
portable seismic monitors that can be deployed quickly in response to recent and
ongoing seismic activity, the report adds.
It says TexNet's seismic monitor network
should afford researchers a new level of
precision as they "develop and implement
cutting-edge methods to determine earthquake locations more accurately than possible with routine methods."
According to Longanecker, TexNet
demonstrates that Texas is among the
country's most proactive states in addressing
induced seismicity concerns. "Our association supports further research and analysis, as well as appropriation of sufficient
revenue for continued data collection," he
says. "This is needed to determine the
true cause of seismic events in this state."
TexNet's year-end report notes it has
hired a staff and several expert contractors.
It also has designed and activated a data
hub for managing the flow of information,
and anticipates the majority of its monitors
will be deployed by midyear.

TexNet officials express plans to request
an appropriation of $3.4 million in the
2017-18 legislative cycle to assure the
program reaches its goal of providing
answers and guidance for the RRC as it
considers the need to further revise disposal
well standards.
According to the report, TexNet officials
"anticipate that by 2019, sufficient earthquake data will be available to fully support
subsurface characterization and modeling.
Therefore, it is vital that funding for TexNet
operations and research be continued." ❒

Sendero Midstream Plans
Delaware Basin System
HOUSTON-Sendero Midstream Partners LP says it has secured long-term
producer commitments and sufficient
funding from Energy Capital Partners to
construct a natural gas gathering and processing system in Eddy County, N.M.
According to the company, the facilities
will consist of both low- and high-pressure
gas gathering pipelines, a 130 million
cubic-foot-a-day cryogenic processing
plant, and a natural gas liquids take-away
pipeline. Sendero says it expects the
system to begin operations in third quarter
2017.
❒
FEBRUARY 2017 81
American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2017

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