Hydraulic Fracturing Operations for Oil and Gas production: Increasing Earthquake activities and Methane Emissions across the United States

Hydraulic Fracturing operations associated with horizontal drilling for oil/gas production in US are known to induce earthquakes by wastewater injection. In recent years, numerous studies have shown a close relationship between induced seismic activities to the high-pressure injection of wastewater disposal, especially in Oklahoma, Southern Kansas, and Texas. In this paper, analysis of sixteen major fracking operation locations across US has been carried out to study the impact of horizontal wells and injected wastewater on earthquake activities. The seismic activities from the USGS earthquake catalog show an increase in the number of earthquakes within radius of 150 km at the location of fracking operations in south central US, whereas no changes observed in other US regions. Detailed analysis has shown that fracking operations involved in horizontal drilling enhance seismic activities in the US, depend not on the amount of injected wastewater or well count, but largely on the geology and geophysical environment. Further, satellite data show an increasing trend of mole fraction methane concentrations associated with the oil/gas production.