Evidence mounts on link between drilling and quakes

In the United States, scientists are more certain than ever that oil and gas drilling is causing hundreds of small earthquakes across the country. So far, the quakes have been mostly small and have done little damage beyond cracking plaster, toppling bricks and rattling nerves. But seismologists warn that the shaking can dramatically increase the chances of bigger, more dangerous quakes.

Up to now, the oil and gas industry has generally argued that any such link requires further study. But mounting evidence, from one study after another, could bring heavier regulation down on drillers in the US and make it more difficult for them to get projects approved.

The potential for manmade quakes “is an important and legitimate concern that must be taken very seriously by regulators and industry”, said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.

He said companies and states can reduce the risk by taking such steps as monitoring operations more closely, imposing tighter standards and recycling wastewater from drilling instead of injecting it underground.

A series of government and academic studies over the past few years - including at least two reports released this week alone - has added to the body of evidence implicating the US drilling boom that has created a bounty of jobs and tax revenue over the past decade.

The US Geological Survey has released the first comprehensive maps pinpointing more than a dozen areas in the central and eastern US that have been jolted by quakes that the researchers said were triggered by drilling. The report said manmade quakes tied to industry operations have been on the rise. Scientists have mainly attributed the spike to the injection of wastewater deep underground, a practice they say can activate dormant faults. Only a few cases of shaking have been blamed on fracking, in which large volumes of water, sand and chemicals are pumped into rock formations to crack them open and free oil or gas.

“The picture is very clear” that wastewater injection can cause faults to move, said USGS geophysicist William Ellsworth.

Until recently, Oklahoma - one of the biggest energy-producing states - had been cautious about linking the spate of quakes to drilling. But the Oklahoma Geological Survey acknowledged earlier this week that it is “very likely” that recent seismic activity was caused by the injection of wastewater into disposal wells. Earthquake activity in Oklahoma in 2013 was 70 times greater than it was before 2008, state geologists reported. Oklahoma historically recorded an average of 1.5 quakes of magnitude 3 or greater each year. It is now seeing an average of 2.5 such quakes each day, according to geologists.

The largest jolt linked to wastewater injection - a magnitude-5.6 that hit Prague, Oklahoma, in 2011 - damaged 200 buildings and shook a college football stadium.

Yet another study, this one published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, connected a swarm of small quakes west of Fort Worth, Texas, to nearby natural gas wells and wastewater disposal.

The American Petroleum Institute said the industry is working with scientists and regulators “to better understand the issue and work toward collaborative solutions”.

The Environmental Protection Agency said there were no plans for new regulations as a result of the USGS study.

Associated Press