Decision comes after recent uptick in temblors – 35 of at least 3.0 magnitude from 17-24 June – but it remains unclear what such regulations will look like

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Oklahoma is considering tightening regulations on its oil and gas industry, after a spate of earthquakes which regulators say were probably related to an increase in fracking in the state.

Between 17 and 24 June, Oklahoma experienced 35 earthquakes of 3.0 or greater magnitude, a huge jump from the average of about 12 a week experienced over the last year, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey.

In April, after years of officially denying that injecting wastewater produced by fracking deep into rock beds could be the cause of the state’s increased earthquakes, Oklahoma officials finally admitted a link. But now the quakes appear to have increased in frequency, and some tremors have struck dangerously close to the more densely populated Oklahoma City area, where there are no nearby wastewater injection sites.

“We have to approach it anew,” Matt Skinner, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates oil and gas drilling, told Reuters. “There’s been a huge increase. That’s a game changer.”

What exactly the state will do remains unclear. Oil and gas is one of the largest industries in Oklahoma, contributing 7% of the state’s revenue. Politicians have long been reluctant to regulate the industry.

“If there is damage and loss of life, you will see the political climate absolutely change overnight,” state legislator Jason Murphey, a Republican, told Reuters. “When and if that happens, you will have a cloud that hangs over the energy sector for the rest of our lives.”

Oklahoma has been hit with one to two minor earthquakes a day since drilling operations increased in the state in 2009. Before that, earthquakes only occured two to three times a year.

Fracking produces massive amounts of water tainted with chemicals which must be disposed of in some way, and many states allow drillers to pump that water back into the ground under high pressure. As fracking has boomed across the country, that has led to a large increase in earthquakes in at least eight states.

A new study, published this month in Science, was the first to link the rise in earthquakes nationally with fracking wastewater injection.

“We saw an enormous increase in earthquakes associated with these high-rate injection wells, especially since 2009,” said Colorado University doctoral student and study co-author Matthew Weingarten.

“We think the evidence is convincing that the earthquakes we are seeing near injection sites are induced by oil and gas activity.”