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Posted on 12/13/2005 5:10:43 AM PST by QwertyKPH
Oh that's just great QKPH, there goes my appetite!
Isn't there a rather large fault line somewhere in the central part of the country? I thought I heard about one either in Kansas or Missouri.
Kingfisher is smack dab in the middle of a "known" oil&gas field -- the Sooner Trend.
No salt domes in Oklahoma. They're all along the Gulf Coast -- TX, Louisiana, MS, AL. The salt in the mid-continent is called "bedded salt" and exists in stratas interspersed with other minerals--not used for storage.
That's the New Madrid--see post #18. Not anywhere near Kingfisher, OK. Does have constant low-level seismic activity, though. Look on the earthquake-watcher webpages some time. Always something shakin' in the New Madrid seismic zone.
The article said the USGS said the area has been dead for seismic activity for some time, which surprised me. The largest "felt" earthquake in OK was in El Reno, due south of Kingfisher, many years ago, but the last measurable small rumblings were just in May 2005.
If you go to the OGS (Oklahoma Geological Survey) website, there's a slide show-type program showing mapped locations in OK of all the more noticeable seismic occurrences since 1977 thru last year, I believe. A majority of them have occurred in the area of El Reno, with one major in Kingfisher in mid 1980s--I think it was either 1984 or 1987.
Anything I could think of (my theory was a nearby new well being drilled perhaps loosening some underground formation with a gas trap adjacent--but now we know it's following a surface formation--the creekbed--so that's out) -- wouldn't touch all the things that the consulted experts must have ruled out already.
It's a real mystery! (And I don't remember your FST reference, just "Don't Crush that Dwarf, Give Me the Pliers" and "Antelope Freeway, 1 mile ... Antelope Freeway, 1/2 mile ... Antelope Freeway, 1/4th mile ... Antelope Freeway, 1/8th mile ...".)
Anybody have any updated news from there? Any developments?
Tue December 13, 2005
Geysers near Kingfisher spew gas, spur confusion
By Tony Thornton
The Oklahoman
http://newsok.com/article/1703436/
“Charles Mankin, director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey at the University of Oklahoma, said: "It's happened before and it'll happen again."
He said the most likely cause is a drill that let natural gas to escape into permeable underground layers.
"It's man-induced," he said. "There is no geologic activity out there that would cause that."
Their quandary: Why did miniature geysers suddenly emerge along a 10-mile stretch of Winter Camp Creek?
Their mission: To make them subside, or at least to control them before they become a health hazard.
Three days after a hunter first spotted water and mud bursting up southwest of Kingfisher, the mystery remained...”
[Inset Article]What's happening in Kingfisher?
Nobody is sure why geysers have sprung up in the area, but experts offered some explanations.
Blaming Mother Nature
Jim Puckette, a professor of geology at Oklahoma State University, said such natural fractures within rock are not unheard of in western Oklahoma. He said he has not seen the geysers or talked to anyone about them.
"You get a gas bubble liberated from a deeper oil and gas reservoir, and the gas expands as it rises."
The gas typically dissipates pretty quickly in open areas with some wind. But there's not much that can be done to control them, he said. They have to run their course.
He said the pressure can lift large rocks into the air, and the main danger is the natural gas getting into water sources.
Bruce Bell, chairman of the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association of Oklahoma, agreed the leak could be caused by natural events such as an earthquake.
If, however, it is natural seepage, Bell said the incident could lead to even more production.
"When the oil business started, one way to find drilling sites was to look for oil seeps," he said. "The seal over a reservoir often is not perfect."
Some eye drilling
The geology in the area makes natural gas seepage unlikely, said Galen Miller, geologist with the Oklahoma Geological Survey, and there has been no seismic activity in the area for at least two weeks.
Miller said the most likely cause is equipment failure in a natural gas well. "It could be an old abandoned well that somebody didn't cap properly," he said. "The most logical explanation to us is that the casing of somebody's well is leaking."
Oil and natural gas wells are encased in pipe and, in some cases, concrete. But if a section of the pipe failed, Miller said, pressure could build up until the gas could surface.
Charles Mankin, director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey at the University of Oklahoma, said: "It's happened before and it'll happen again."
He said the most likely cause is a drill that let natural gas to escape into permeable underground layers.
"It's man-induced," he said. "There is no geologic activity out there that would cause that."
This is an odd scientific discovery that may or may not portend a future event. Thought this would be an interesting read.
KSWO out of Lawton had a piece this morning. Evidently Cheapeake Oil has been drilling in the area and it's now thought the drilling has somehow caused the natural gas to burble to the surface. Chesapeake is studying the problem on how to correct it and promises to reimburse people for any damages.
Holy bubbling puddles Batman!
It would be interesting if it turned out to be a massive oil field !
Thanks for the Ping, Sully.
Show me da money!
With this release of greenhouse gases, how are they going to compensate the world for global warming? We're DOOMED!
As per seismic fault lines, I seem to recall Oklahoma having numerous faults that lead into the New Madrid. IRC local histories of bells ringing out in New York City from the New Madrid quake due to the nature of the ground.
Earthquakes are ruled out in the story, except seismic activity at New Madrid for the past week. Interesting.
http://newsok.com/article/1704406/?template=home/main
More information about the Chesapeake well.
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