Loading ...CU and USGS researchers found quakes occurred near 10 percent of 180,000 injection wells
A new study of 180,000 oil and gas industry wells found that earthquakes occurred within nine miles of 10 percent of the wells after fluids were injected into the ground.
The University of Colorado and U.S. Geological Survey study unveiled Thursday also found that wells where companies injected fluids at high rates — exceeding 300,000 barrels a month — were 1.5 to 2 times more likely to be associated with quakes.
The number of quakes near oil and gas wells in the central and eastern United States has reached 650 a year, researchers found, up from a handful in the 1970s.
In Colorado, the industry operates eight waste disposal wells where companies inject fluids at rates greater than 300,000 barrels a month, state regulators said in response to Denver Post queries.
Oil and gas companies operate 920 injection wells statewide — 350 for disposal of drilling wastewater and 570 for accelerating extraction of oil and gas from deep rock, state records show. read more