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."
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.