Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – thank you for making our newsletter part of your market reading this year, it is a great honor to write for you and host you at our events!
This week, the TX RRC’s newest seismic response action rattled the industry by invalidating SWD permits on several dozen Midland Basin deep injection wells.
Effective 12/31/21, owners of some SWDs in the Gardendale Response Area will have to stop disposal and plug deep sections.
The continuing (and escalating) Permian seismic regulatory response has huge implications for water management strategy and assets in 2022+. This will be a hot topic at the March 9-11 Oilfield Water Markets conference we are hosting for the sector’s business leaders in Dallas.
Starting with a talk from TX RRC Chairman Wayne Christian sharing an insider’s view on the regulatory response, E&P reps and Water Midstream execs will continue to share knowledge about this important development during panels and roundtables. And the conference’s scope will of course transcend well beyond this topic, as the sector’s leading minds discuss the most important trends, risks and opportunities in full-cycle shale water management.
Don’t miss this event – early bird pricing is still available on registration but not for much longer!
Here is this week’s industry news…
News Digest
TX RRC Posts New Gardendale Seismicity Response Action On Dec. 17th
RRC staff has determined that injection into deep geologic strata—below the top of the Strawn Formation and especially the Ellenburger Formation—across the area is likely contributing to recent seismic activity in the Gardendale Seismic Response Area (SRA). Therefore, the RRC is suspending all disposal well permits to inject oil and gas waste into deep strata within the boundaries of the Gardendale SRA.
RRC Reaction - Statistics From B3 Insight Research On The Impact
B3’s proprietary data show that nearly 4.5 million barrels per month are now displaced and require new disposal management plan. Additionally, 50% of the affected, active wells have been injecting water for less than 4 years, posing a challenge to capital recovery for commercial facilities and affecting management plans for operator-owned wells.
Permian Water Kerfuffle Heats Up With Another TX RRC Crackdown Before Year-End
The latest move is what we would call “an emergency order” – TX RRC is now suspending permits on existing disposal wells in response to a big uptick in seismicity last week. Importantly, the trend of actions taken this year by the TX RRC in response to increased seismicity in the Permian Basin has been to implement progressively more impactful regulatory changes
MRT Coverage Of Latest RRC Crackdown
"It makes sense for operators to move produced water away from population centers and seismic clusters. It also makes sense to try and recycle as many of these barrels as possible, especially near RRC action regions.”"
2022 CONFERENCE SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: HYDRITE (Bronze Sponsor)
HYDRITE helps protect your brand through creative solutions and unique formulations. Our customized programs focus on effective and efficient solutions designed to meet specific customer needs. HYDRITE offers ingredients, processing aids, equipment, sanitation and antimicrobial products, wastewater and foam control chemistries, technical service and support, and customized training programs.
2021 Infill Thinking Christmas Carol Release
So grab some egg nog, break out the candy canes and tinsel and enjoy this year’s new tune: All I Want For Christmas Is Some Net Pricing
Common Disposal Partners With Pelican Energy Partners
Common Disposal, LLC is a full-service saltwater disposal company based in San Augustine, TX, working with oil and gas companies. The Company’s operations are mainly concentrated in the southwestern part of the Haynesville Shale. Common Disposal is a family business with water processing capacity of over 125,000 barrels per day across six saltwater disposal wells.
Environmental group calls out conflicts of interest on North Dakota energy board as $160M funding approved
Multiple appointees to the Clean Sustainable Energy Authority disclosed conflicts of interest at the start of last week’s meeting.
Holt, Tudor to retire from banking firm they helped create
Maynard Holt and Bobby Tudor will retire in January from Tudor, Pickering & Holt, the Houston investment bank they founded in 2007 with Dan Pickering in 2007.
Select Energy’s M&A Spree Continues with Nuverra, as Lower 48 Opportunities Expand
As previously covered in the Oilfield Water Weekly, Houston-based Select Energy Services Inc., on a tear this year to expand its Lower 48 oilfield services for exploration and production (E&P) companies, has agreed to pay $45 million for Nuverra Environmental Solutions Inc.
Earthstone Energy Announces Northern Delaware Basin Asset Acquisition for ~$604 Million
Earthstone Energy announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of privately held Chisholm Energy Holdings located in the northern Delaware Basin of New Mexico.
Texas added 2,400 oil exploration and production jobs in November
Oil exploration and production companies in Texas added 2,400 jobs in November as the industry, recovering from the COVID-driven oil bust, faces new demand concerns because of the omicron variant.
Facing looming deadline, air-quality panel mulls tougher rules on oil, gas operations
Regulations on methane seen as major step, possible national example, toward reining in emission.
In 2021 The Shale Rig Count Did Something It Had Never Done Before
Just how stable was 2022’s rig count growth?
Granholm: Biden Administration Not A ‘Boogeyman’ For Oil Industry
As quoted by Yahoo News, Granholm first said "I do not want to fight with any of you.” But that was all the contrition she was willing to convey before moving right back into her standard passive-aggressive posture towards the industry.
DESPITE MORATORIUM, 2 MILLION GALLONS OF CONVENTIONAL OIL AND GAS WASTE SPREAD ON PA. ROADS SINCE 2018
Conventional oil and gas producers have spread millions of gallons of drilling waste on Pennsylvania roads in the last few years, despite a 2018 moratorium on the practice for unconventional wells.
Texas Needs A Thousand More Sand Truck Drivers For 2022
Folks are wondering if the frac supply chain will be able to adequately resource the transportation function to keep up with 2022 completions demand.
A Major U.S. Source Water Body Could Be Nearly Gone In The Next 25 Years
“The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a major source of water for California, could largely disappear in 25 years if global warming continues unchecked,” NBC News reported.
The SEC should examine oil CEOs with pay tied to ESG, Warren says
Fossil fuel companies should face probes on whether they’re using “loophole-ridden” environmental, social and governance goals to boost executive pay while contributing to environmental destruction, Senator Elizabeth Warren said, adding to her calls to rein in CEO compensation.
Colorado River trouble, rainwater harvesting, private wells, and the future of desalination
The Colorado River has seen a steady decline in flow over the last 3 decades and is predicted to decrease a further 9% in the coming years
New 'Solar' Catalyst To Treat Industrial Waste Water Cheap And Fast From NUST MISIS Scientists
A new "solar" catalyst based on molybdenum sulfide for water purification was developed by NUST MISIS scientists together with colleagues from FEFU, Fudan University (China) and Tokai University (Japan).
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