December 31, 2014

Newsmakers Nov. 14-27: More injections sought despite quakes

NGL Water Solutions DJ LLC, the company operating the fracking-fluid disposal well linked to earthquakes near the Greeley Airport late last spring, asked the state of Colorado if it could boost by 20 percent the amount of water it can inject underground despite ongoing low-level quake activity captured by a new state monitoring program.

Since injections were temporarily suspended at the well in June, earthquakes have occurred near the 10,400-foot-deep well, according to documents obtained by BizWest through a Colorado Open Records Act request. At least one was nearly as large as the event that triggered a state investigation.

Last summer, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission briefly suspended activity after large quakes struck and a public outcry erupted. Injection activity was then allowed to resume in late July and the state launched an investigation into whether NGL had violated the terms of its disposal permit. The investigation remains open.

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The permit, granted in the spring of 2013, allows the company to inject 10,000 gallons of wastewater daily. After the incidents last spring, however, the state required NGL to cut back the amount of water it injected. The amounts injected have been allowed to increase gradually and subsequent small quakes have been documented. NGL declined to comment.

In Northern Colorado, the drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing generates enormous amounts of wastewater that oil companies typically inject thousands of feet underground. Fracking involves pumping millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals into a drilled hole to extract oil and gas from dense shale formations. Injection wells such as the one operated by NGL are designated specifically for wastewater and regulated by state authorities. Some 29 permitted disposal wells are operating in Weld County. NGL operated 11 of those wells as of July.

UPDATE

In an Oct. 28 email, NGL told the state oil commission that it was “not aware of any abnormal seismic activity in the area” and asked the agency to increase its maximum daily injection rate to 12,000 barrels of wastewater per day.

The state oil commission has not approved that request, said Matt Lepore, director of the agency.

Meantime, the agency says it a 10,000 barrel per day maximum listed on the permit “is not a binding limit.” NGL has said it “vigorously objects” to the state oil commission establishing a daily injection rate limit.

The state oil commission, though it collects monthly reports on volumes of water injected by well operators, has no gauges to monitor exactly how much water a company has injected.

“Most injection well operators have equipment that monitors the injection on at least a daily basis, and we can obtain those records,” said Todd Hartman, spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources, which oversees the state oil commission.

NGL Water Solutions DJ LLC, the company operating the fracking-fluid disposal well linked to earthquakes near the Greeley Airport late last spring, asked the state of Colorado if it could boost by 20 percent the amount of water it can inject underground despite ongoing low-level quake activity captured by a new state monitoring program.

Since injections were temporarily suspended at the well in June, earthquakes have occurred near the 10,400-foot-deep well, according to documents obtained by BizWest through a Colorado Open Records Act request. At least one was nearly…

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