Fight the good fight:
Facing a six-year barrage of increasingly large earthquakes, Oklahoma regulators are effectively ordering the state’s powerful oil-and-gas industry to substantially cut back the underground disposal of industry wastes that have caused the tremors across the state.
On Monday, the state Corporation Commission asked well operators in a Connecticut-size patch of central Oklahoma to reduce by 40 percent the amount of oil and gas wastes they are injecting deep into the earth. The directive covers 411 injection wells in a rough circle that includes Oklahoma City and points northeast.
It follows a February request that imposed a 40 percent cutback on injection wells in a similar-size region of northwest Oklahoma.
The actions significantly increase the effort to rein in the quakes, which the commission has long tried to reduce one well or a handful of wells at a time.
But they are an equally notable challenge to the industry, which will most likely be able to make the cutbacks only by reducing oil and gas production. …
Although critics contend that earthquakes have caused millions of dollars of damage, Oklahoma’s political leaders have long been reluctant to impose restrictions on an industry that dominates the state’s economy. Until last spring, Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican, maintained that the cause of the tremors was unclear, and the state Legislature refused to consider legislation addressing the issue.
Ms. Fallin abandoned her position as the number of quakes rapidly increased. But the political leadership was not jolted into action until January, after a series of small earthquakes damaged homes and interrupted power in Edmond, an Oklahoma City suburb home to many in the state’s political and financial elite. …
via www.nytimes.com
I'm a little skeptical that we can save Edmond. A 40% reduction in oil production would cost almost $200 million in lost revenues per month at last year's prices and production.*
*Fact check (i.e., that number seems huge, please tell me what I'm doing wrong):
- Price per barrel (P) = $39.16
- Oklahoma monthly production (Q) = 12,084,000 barrels
- Revenue = P*Q = $473,209,440
- 40% of Revenue = $189,283,776
More production numbers are here.
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