Texas Tremors Caused by Louisiana Drilling for Natural Gas?

Here's a piece discussing the possibilities that the natural gas drilling technique, known as fracturing, could be related to the earthquakes experienced in Texas recently.

www.nola.com

A series of minor earthquakes recorded as recently as last week in Texas have raised the specter of tremors in northwest Louisiana, where a natural gas discovery has launched a gold-rush style drilling boom.

A similar rush hit north Texas several years ago, after geologists found vast stores of natural gas in the Barnett Shale, a layer of underground rock spanning 5,000 square miles. Thousands of wells have been drilled, and some scientists have blamed the recent earthquakes on the intense process used to extract gas from the shale, called fracturing.

Developers are using the same process in Louisiana on the Haynesville Shale, which spreads beneath a six-parish region near Shreveport. Prospectors began flocking to the area early last year, after an energy firm announced that the Haynesville Shale could be the largest natural gas reserve in the country.

Could this rush to retireve the natural gas reserves in Louisiana be the culprit behind the quakes? It looks like they will keep on drilling until there is proof positive that it is the cause.

Southern Methodist University is going to conduct some seismic monitoring to try and determine if the drilling is the cause of the Texas tremors...

Do you think that would be a reason to stop drilling for gas? or would the people there just accept living with the earthquake feeling year in and year out ??

I see the same thing is being debated in Cleburne also, but the mayor there are abit alarmed and had hired sceismolgists to find out what is going on there...

[edit on 5-7-2009 by ChemBreather]

reply to post by ChemBreather


Cleburne is where SMU is placing some of the monitors, according to the article.

I guess we will have to wait and see if the drilling can be tied to the tremors with the tests, I doubt they would stop drilling unless it was proven to be linked.

If it is proven, I would expect a long drawn out court challenge, plenty of money for lawyers in the natural gas business..

reply to post by JacKatMtn


JacKatMtn, thanks for the info!

I live on the Louisiana - Texas border on the Texas side (of course) and I have not felt any tremors, though tremors felt in Dallas area as the article stated.

It was very interesting to watch when drillers moved into the Shreveport area... predators moving in for the kill... lawsuits preceded and the circus was underway!

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. S&F for the info!

Ciao!

people will claim that their way of life is disrupted, sue, and get some cash. They will keep drilling, and hopefully the shifting shale doesn't trigger some of the blind faults we have here in texas.

there are a series of faults that aim generally from southwest to northeast, from Uvalde to Texarkana. I live near the Balcones fault, which separates the Hill Country from the Coastal plains.

Besides the crustal blocks, saltdomes, and other geologic stuff here, the series of fault lines can be seen in some structures, but also the blind faults underlying other areas makes this area, while geologically quiet, a potential for some serious shaking and moving.

there hasn't been a shaker past 6 on the richter scale in known texas history.

I noticed this new natural gas discovery which is located west of the Dallas Ft. Worth area...

San Leon Energy hits natural gas discovery in Texas

San Leon Energy reports a significant discovery of natural gas in the Palo Pinto County, Regular (Gas) Field, District 07B, Texas, which will produce at commercial rates.

San Leon holds a 25% interest in the first well, Nichols # 1, which is operated by McCown Engineering and will have an 80% interest in the remaining three wells to be drilled in this field. Mr. Larry McCown will hold the remaining 20%.

The Nichols # 1 well has been drilled to a depth (TD) of 3,386 feet with additional pay zones at 3104 feet and 3126 feet. The well was flowed and volumetric calculations indicate it will produce 1.2bcf at up to 1.3 mmcf per day.

Google Map of Palo Pinto County

I found no mention if they were going to use the same methods (fracturing) to extract the Natural gas there but if the Louisiana method is partly the cause of the tremors in Texas, how much more pressure will be put on the faults if they start drilling just west of Dallas Ft. Worth?

Could it be worse? Is it on a different fault? Just tossing out questions here..

I don't have the answers.