The Importance Of Fracking In Oklahoma

There has been an obvious escalation in seismic activity in Oklahoma that has left scientists as well as residents baffled as what could be the primary cause. The objective of this paper is to establish how the fracking processes of salt water disposal (SWD) and earthquakes are connected in Oklahoma. There has been previous examinations that has illustrated operations such as fracking sites throughout Oklahoma that were capable of producing a small quantity of earthquakes, however until now scientists were unable to find a definite connection between the high rate water injection sites and the much stronger earthquakes. Fracking also known as Hydraulic Fracturing is the process of salt water being forced at high pressure fractures open bed
The earthquake rate increase in Oklahoma, where the vast majority of the increase has occurred (585 of 688 M ≥3 earthquakes in the central United States in 2014), corresponds to a doubling of the wastewater disposal rate in the state from 1999 to 2013 (Shultz 2014). Near the town of Prague, Oklahoma, the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Oklahoma occurred having a magnitude of 5.6 and many seismologists believe that it was caused by fracking through disposal wells. The theory behind the earthquakes propose that the sheer volume of fluid that is injected into the ground is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
It was found that by increasing the fluid pressure through disposal of wastewater into the Arbuckle formation in the three areas of concentrated seismicity-from about 20 million barrels per year in 1997 to about 400 million barrels per year in 2013-humans have sped up this process dramatically (Walsh and Zoback 2015). One can say that the earthquakes affecting Oklahoma regardless of the fracking however humans have increased the rate at which these earthquakes occurred temporally by injecting salt water into the faults and high pressure and causing stress to the faults. An explanation as to why some of the earthquakes are spatially and temporally distant from the injection wells is because the pressure being forced onto the faults spreads throughout Arbuckle group resulting in distant seismic activity. The oil and gas companies that partake in fracking operations are now being held liable for the cause of the earthquakes. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has cleared the way for citizens to sue the oil and gas companies responsible for the wells. There are now regulators who are beginning to get involved, Oklahoma’s governor has given consent to a rule which makes it necessary for oil and gas operators to divulge their injection volumes and pressures daily. Several