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Abstract
The purpose of this project is to map earthquake activities near oil and natural gas producing areas in the state of Texas, United States of America. The map will analyze and relate high earthquake activities within certain counties of Texas to their high drilling and production operations within the same range. Comparing statistics and current data between years 2001-2018, our research team was able to prove that increased earthquake activities in the state of Texas is due to the increase of horizontal and directional drilling activities in the past decade. This study will encourage the reduction of drilling activities in the state of Texas and reflect its purpose worldwide in other countries facing the same problem.
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How can activities related to oil and natural gas production cause earthquakes?
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The problem was broken down into two aspects followed by drilling operations occurring in the state of Texas. The first aspect, Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”, known as the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at intense pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside . The second aspect, wastewater disposal which is the injection of disposed water and other drilling fluids from production operations back to the wellbore through the rock formation. If the well is near a fault line, the shear force created by pressure from hydraulic fracking followed by wastewater injection causes the fault line to slip and the ground to shake leading to a natural hazard known as earthquakes.
Hydraulic Fracturing
A well stimulation technique to increase the permeability of rock. The rock is fractured by pressurized liquid. The process involves the high pressure injection or “fracking fluid” into the wellbore to create cracks in the rock formation through which hydrocarbons will flow more freely. The proppants hold open these cracks to allow the trapped natural gas to escape. Creating cracks near a fault can can raise concerns in creating earthquakes.
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Wastewater Disposal
Millions of barrels of wastewater are forced into a disposal well, can induce earthquakes by increasing the fluid pressures underground. That increasing pressure reduces the frictional strength of faults, allowing them to slip.Wastewater disposal wells typically operate for longer duration and inject much more fluid than hydraulic fracturing, making them more likely to induce earthquakes. Seismicity can be induced at distances of 10 miles or more away from the injection point and at significantly greater depths than the injection point.
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