OK Corporation Commission Disposal Well Directive Deadline Passes

The deadline for compliance with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's newest directive has passed and still the OCC has yet to hear from more than a dozen operators.

The directive was issued in March and required that the operators of 347 disposal wells located in areas of interest within the Arbuckle formation provide proof to the OCC's Oil and Gas Conservation Division that the well is not disposing below the Arbuckle formation. In a statement accompanying the issuance of the directives, the OCC's Matt Skinner said, “There is broad agreement among seismologists that disposal below the Arbuckle poses a potential risk of causing earthquakes, as it puts the well in communication with the solid ‘basement rock.'”

Monday, Skinner said that, of the 92 operators of the 347 wells in question, the OCC had yet to receive information from 15 operators of 27 wells.

Based on the information that has been received, Skinner said seven wells will have to be plugged back.

The definition of an ‘area of interest' has evolved over the past year and now is a ten kilometer area (approximately six miles) with the central mass of an earthquake swarm (two or more earthquakes within a quarter mile of each other, at least one of which measuring magnitude 3.0 or greater).

In the OCC's directive, operators were warned that if they do not offer proof that their well(s) is not disposing below the Arbuckle, they will be forced to reduce their disposal volumes by 50 percent.