Kansas’ largest oil producer cuts deal with Oklahoma to avoid earthquake lawsuit

Sandridge Exploration and Production, Kansas’ largest oil producer, has come to an agreement to reduce wastewater disposal that can cause earthquakes by more than 190,000 barrels a day.

The agreement with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission prevented the company from being the first to face legal action that could have forced it to make reductions.

“We had prepared and were about to file a case to force compliance,” Tim Baker, the director of the commission’s oil and gas division, said in a news release.

This is the second time one of the more than 100 fracking companies in Oklahoma has said it would not comply and then quickly come to an agreement.

The agreement allows Sandridge to pump 7 percent more wastewater than it would have under the department’s original proposal released in December, according to department spokesman Matt Skinner. But now four of the seven wells that will be shut down will be available to the Oklahoma Geological Survey to learn more about how wastewater disposal causes earthquakes.

“We got what we wanted,” Skinner said. “We wanted a significant volume reduction, and we saw the opportunity to be able to get researchers hands on these wells.”

Sandridge, based in Oklahoma City, will have until April 30 to comply with the proposal and until Wednesday to install monitoring equipment to ensure compliance, according to a letter that Baker sent to Sandridge.

SandRidge injected 30 percent of the wastewater in Oklahoma in 2014 – almost three times as much as the next largest company – totaling more than 200 million barrels, according to commission data cited in a Sierra Club intent to sue letter. This agreement will reduce its wastewater injections by around 70 million barrels per year.

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Kansas’ largest oil producer cuts deal with Oklahoma to avoid earthquake lawsuit."