Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

New Concern Over Quakes in Oklahoma Near a Hub of U.S. Oil

Screen Shot 2015-10-15 at 10.33.51

Screen Shot 2015-10-15 at 10.34.44

Screen Shot 2015-10-15 at 10.41.53By MICHAEL WINESOCT. 14, 2015

A sharp earthquake in central Oklahoma last weekend has raised fresh concern about the security of a vast crude oil storage complex, close to the quake’s center, that sits at the crossroads of the nation’s oil pipeline network.

The magnitude 4.5 quake struck Saturday afternoon about three miles northwest of Cushing, roughly midway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The town of about 8,000 people is home to the so-called Cushing Hub, a sprawling tank farm that is among the largest oil storage facilities in the world.

Scientists reported in a paper published online last month that a large earthquake near the storage hub “could seriously damage storage tanks and pipelines.” Saturday’s quake continues a worrisome pattern of moderate quakes, suggesting that a large earthquake is more than a passing concern, the lead author of that study, Daniel McNamara, said in an interview.

“When we see these fault systems producing multiple magnitude 4s, we start to get concerned that it could knock into higher magnitudes,” he said. “Given the number of magnitude 4s here, it’s a high concern.”

The federal government has designated the hub, run by energy industry companies, a critical national infrastructure. Major tank ruptures could cause serious environmental damage, raise the risk of fire and other disasters and disrupt the flow of oil to refineries nationwide, said Dr. McNamara, a research geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado.

The Cushing quake is among the largest of thousands of temblors that have rocked central and northern Oklahoma in the past five years, largely set off by the injection of oil and gas industry wastes deep into the earth. The watery wastes effectively lubricate cracks, allowing rocks under intense pressure to slip past one another, causing quakes.

The tens of millions of barrels of injected wastewater have helped make Oklahoma the second most seismically active state, behind Alaska. Although quakes have damaged or destroyed buildings and roads and, in a few instances, injured people, regulators do not have the authority to seriously curb waste disposal, and politicians in a state dominated by the energy industry have made no move to give it to them.

The state had three earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in 2009. Last year, it had 585, and this year’s total exceeds that.

Many scientists say the largest earthquake recorded in Oklahoma, a magnitude 5.7 temblor in 2011, was apparently unleashed by injected waste. Research suggests that the Cushing faults hold the potential for a quake as large as magnitude 6, Dr. McNamara said.

The Cushing oil hub stores oil piped from across North America until it is dispatched to refineries. As of last week, it held 53 million barrels of crude, said Afolabi Ogunnaike, an industry analyst at Wood Mackenzie, a natural resources analytics firm. The earth beneath the tanks was comparatively stable until last October, when magnitude 4 and 4.3 earthquakes struck nearby in quick succession, revealing long-dormant faults beneath the complex. Three more quakes with magnitudes 4 and over have occurred within a few miles of the tanks in the past month.

The Department of Homeland Security has gauged potential earthquake dangers to the hub and concluded that a quake equivalent to the record magnitude 5.7 could significantly damage the tanks. Dr. McNamara’s study concludes that recent earthquakes have increased stresses along two stretches of fault that could lead to quakes of that size.

The vice chairman of the state’s oil and gas regulatory body, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, said in an interview that the potential for a large earthquake in Cushing was among her biggest worries.

“It’s the eye of the storm,” said the vice chairwoman, Dana Murphy.

Nevertheless, Oklahoma’s attempt to deal with the earthquakes this autumn faces continuing obstacles.

The government’s chief seismologist, who came under oil industry pressure to minimize the quakes’ origins in waste disposal, left this fall, and his successor is scheduled to depart soon. The state budget for the fiscal year that began in July slashed appropriations to the Corporation Commission by nearly 45 percent.

The commission has used its limited power over oil and gas exploration and production to persuade some companies in quake-prone areas to reduce the amount of waste they inject underground. This week, however, a Tulsa energy company filed the first challenge to those efforts, calling them arbitrary and a violation of due process. The two sides are negotiating an accord.

SOURCE

RELATED COVERAGE

Oklahoma Acts to Limit Earthquake Risk at Oil and Gas Wells: AUG. 4, 2015 

As Quakes Rattle Oklahoma, Fingers Point to Oil and Gas Industry: APRIL 3, 2015

New Research Links Scores of Earthquakes to Fracking Wells Near a Fault in Ohio: JAN. 7, 2015

DutchNews.nl: Gas group NAM says more serious earthquakes will hit Groningen: 1 October 2014

EnergyVoice.com: Quakes force Dutch lawmakers to cut gas production: 11 March 2015

Bloomberg: Dutch Quakes Toss Wrench Into Gears of Europe Gas Market: 10 March 2015

Devastating report of a scary scenario: 07 March 2015

Dutch government says sorry for quakes caused by Groningen gas field: 02 March 2015

Reuters: Bells toll for Europe’s largest gas field: 02 March 2015

Groningen Gas Field Shock: Risk of earthquakes at 4.6 on the Richter scale: 24 Feb 2015

Shell and Exxon ignored seismic dangers at Groningen Gas Field: 18 Feb 2015

REUTERS ARTICLE: Dutch Court hears challenge over Groningen gas production: 1 April 2015

BLOOMBERG: Dutch Court to Rule on Gas Output From Europe’s Biggest Field: 13 April 2015

BLOOMBERG: Dutch court limits fracking on earthquake fears: 14 April 2015

REUTERS ARTICLE: Exxon-Shell gas venture may have to adjust Groningen output after court ruling: 15 April 2015

Shell/Exxon Induced Earthquakes undermine Dutch Gov Revenues: 16 April 2015

A Halt to Groningen Production Could Significantly Impact on Shell’s Remaining Reserves: 17 April 2015

REUTERS ARTICLE: Reinforcing homes in Dutch gas extraction quake zone estimated at 30 bln euros: 20 April 2015

NEW YORK TIMES/REUTERS ARTICLE: Dutch Court Says Gas Producer Must Compensate Homeowners in Quake Zone: 2 Sept 2015

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Shell, Exxon Ordered to Pay Groningen Earthquake Compensation: 2 Sept 2015

BLOOMBERG.COM: Riled Locals Fight Output From Europe’s Largest Gas Field: 10 Sept 2015

REUTERS: Groningen gas production challenged in Dutch court: 10 Sept 2015

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.