Oil and gas is 'deforming' New Mexico's land, study says, as drilling set to grow

Fossil fuels in New Mexico for years drew concerns for potential air and water pollution, but recent research also pointed to the impacts drilling for oil and gas could have on the landscape of the Permian Basin.

The region, spanning southeast New Mexico and West Texas, is the busiest onshore oil and gas field in the U.S. producing about 5.8 million barrels per day, almost half of the U.S. total output of crude oil.

But producing all that energy requires thousands of wells, pumpjacks, tank batteries and other infrastructure that can deform the land on the surface, according to a recent study by scientists with Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

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Researchers endeavored to map surface disturbance in the Permian Basin and quantify the impacts of oil and gas as the industry boomed in recent years.

They used geological monitoring data, collating it with oil and gas production numbers and well activity at several sites throughout the region in New Mexico and Texas, in three major sub-basins: the western Delaware Basin, eastern Midland Basin and the Central Basin that divides the two.

The report found the Permian Basin landscape was subsiding on average by about 3 to 4 centimeters each year due to increased oil and gas production, causing some lands to sink while others rise.

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This subsidence could impact nearby fault zones in the Delaware Basin sub-basin, on the western edge of the Permian straddling the Texas-New Mexico border, the study read, potentially triggering earthquakes and hindering fluid flow beneath the surface.

The uplift in the Delaware was tied to wastewater injection, the study read, when byproduct fluids from oil and gas drilling are pumped back underground in the formations they came from.

“Over the last few decades, the increasing exploration of hydrocarbons has contributed to the alarming increase in geohazards, sometimes permanently altering the local ecosystem, and is a growing concern for communities and policymakers worldwide,” the study read.

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These concerns, per the study, included seismicity, disturbance of the surface lands and contamination of underground aquifers local communities rely on for drinking water.

“The hydrocarbon production and the associated wastewater disposal alter the stress regime in the subsurface, resulting in surface deformation, possible activation of faults, and leakage of wastewater and hydrocarbons into the nearby aquifers and air that can impact the region’s infrastructure and ecosystem,” read the study.

The study warned these effects may not be observed in the remote Permian Basin region, but it could also soon pose dangers to infrastructure like existing pipelines or roads.

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“Land subsidence largely goes unnoticed, especially in sparsely inhabited regions like the Permian Basin due to its relatively slow movement and large spatial extent,” read the study. “However, this can cause major damage to the pipelines, transportation, and other infrastructure in the region.”

Modeling these impacts can prove challenging as well production changes overtime, the study read, often altering the geological pressure on faults.

“The presence of thousands of wells with time-varying fluid exchange influencing the deformation will further increase the complexity of the model,” the study read.

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But using data from 2018 to 2021, when production grew in the Permian Basin, researchers said they could see land deformation that could worsen as oil and gas grows in the coming years.

This effect was most significant on the western edge of the Delaware Basin, where an uplift of 10 millimeters per year was observed, tied to wastewater injection and the diffusion of fluid pressure.

The Midland Basin was also affected in similar ways as oil production grew, read the study, and future studies would need to use more sophisticated geological information into the various portions of the Permian Basin for a more accurate picture of the growing problem and its differences in different areas.

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“The Permian Basin, home to one of the largest oil reserves in the United States, is affected by surface deformation in several areas,” the study read.

And demand for the oil produced in the Permian Basin, and thus extraction operations, was expected to continue its growth for the next 10 years, peaking in 2033, according to a recent report presented to the Legislative Finance Committee.

The report, provided to lawmakers by IHS Markit and Moody’s Investors Service during a July 18 meeting in Farmington, contended New Mexico’s oil production, based on demand, would hit 2 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) by 2030 then began a gradual decline to about 500,000 bopd by 2050.

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In the meantime, the growing oil and gas operations could mean worsening environmental impacts like surface disturbance detailed in the report, and air pollution, argued an Aug. 9 study from the Center for Western Priorities.

This research documented several areas known for heavy methane air pollution, including the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico.

In 2022, the report said oil and gas producers lost about 21.6 million cubic feet of methane, a greenhouse gas, through venting releases and the burning off of gas, also known as flaring.

While the state recently enacted regulations to limit methane releases, the Center argued New Mexico struggled to enforce such measures with only 14 inspector positions funded for the entire state.

“The large amount of methane being wasted by the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin is a huge issue that is exacerbating climate change,” read the report. “In order to rein in the rampant methane waste occurring in the Permian Basin, both state and federal regulators need to step up their efforts.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Oil and gas is 'deforming' New Mexico's land, study says