Permian shale producers face quake-driven well disposal closures
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Some Texas oil and gas producers could lose as much as half of their wastewater disposal capacity in parts of the Permian Basin in the state's crackdown to stop a rise in tremors, energy consultancy Rystad says, according to Reuters.

The Texas Railroad Commission last month suspended deep disposal wells in four oil-rich counties in West Texas, where the number of nearly 2,000 magnitude 2.0 or higher quakes nearly doubled in 2021 from a year earlier.
The state's new ban will require producers in those counties to find other, more costly options to handle their wastewater, including piping or trucking it longer distances to wells that are underutilized on adjacent acreage.
According to Reuters, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Diamondback's (NASDAQ:FANG) Rattler Midstream (NASDAQ:RTLR), NGL Energy Partners (NYSE:NGL), Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) have disposal wells in areas where the Texas regulator is shutting deep injection wells or likely to reduce disposal volumes.
Rystad says the companies could lose as much as 50% of their saltwater disposal capacity in key acreage positions if the regulator takes additional actions.
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