<
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07082024/permian-basin-oil-well-blowouts-linked-with-wastewater-injection/>
"Fracking wastewater, injected underground for permanent disposal, traveled 12
miles through geological faults before bursting to the surface through a
previously plugged West Texas oil well in 2022, according to a new study from
Southern Methodist University.
It’s the first study to draw specific links between wastewater injection and
recent blowouts in the Permian Basin, the nation’s top producing oil field,
where old oil wells have lately begun to spray salty water.
It raises concerns about the possibility of widespread groundwater
contamination in West Texas and increases the urgency for oil producers to find
alternative outlets for the millions of gallons of toxic wastewater that come
from Permian Basin oil wells every day.
“We established a significant link between wastewater injection and oil well
blowouts in the Permian Basin,” wrote the authors of the study, funded in part
by NASA and published last month in the journal
Geophysical Research Letters.
The finding suggests “a potential for more blowouts in the near future,” it
said.
For years, the Texas agency that regulates the oil and gas extraction industry
has refrained from putting forth an explanation for the blowout phenomenon,
even as a chorus of local landowners alleged that wastewater injections were
driving the flows of gassy brine onto the surface of their properties since
about 2022."
Via Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
