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 The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC), which regulates the
state's oil and gas industry, ordered companies on Sept. 18 to shut
or reduce usage of five saltwater disposal wells around the
north-central Oklahoma city of Cushing.
Saltwater, a normal byproduct of oil and gas work, is put into deep
disposal wells that scientists say have contributed to a rash of
small and medium-sized earthquakes in Oklahoma since 2009.
At the time of its latest directive, the OCC said its "plan may be
altered as more data is made available".
On Sunday, some people on social media, fearing a quake could cause
a fire or explosion in Cushing in the future, were already calling
for tougher rules.
"This needs to stop," read a comment at NPR's StateImpact. "The
injection wells & fracking are wrecking Cushing."
 Saltwater disposal needs have grown in tandem with the boom in
horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Saturday's quake reported by the U.S. Geological Survey was shallow
and centered 5 km (3 miles) from Cushing. [L1N12A0K6]
There were no reports of injuries or damages to the vast network of
pipelines and tanks that make up the U.S. oil storage hub, which
serves as the reference point for futures traded on the New York
Mercantile Exchange.
The Cushing quake was the second significant quake to hit the state
in a day, the USGS said, after one with 4.4 magnitude struck near
Medford, about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Cushing, on Saturday
morning.
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Noticeable quakes, above magnitude 3.0, now strike Oklahoma at a
rate of two per day or more, compared with two or so per year before
2009.
Despite resistance from oil producers, the OCC has previously
required disposal well operators to show they are not injecting
water below the state's deepest rock formation, a practice believed
to contribute to seismic activity.
The first set of rules the OCC issued on Aug. 4 told 12 operators of
23 wells that they had 60 days to reduce the amount of saltwater
being injected into wells.
The standards have affected only a fraction of the state's
approximately 3,500 saltwater disposal wells.
(Reporting By Terry Wade; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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