RRC Issues Enhanced Guidelines for Permian Basin Disposal Wells

AUSTIN – Utilizing scientific and engineering analysis, the Railroad Commission of Texas has issued new guidelines that further strengthen permitting of disposal wells in the Permian Basin.

In order to further enhance the integrity of the underground disposal of produced water, new requirements will be implemented for saltwater disposal well (SWD) permit applications in the region. Produced water is a byproduct of oil and gas production and is injected into SWDs.  

New and amended permit applications in the Permian Basin will now be evaluated based on three primary factors:

• An expanded area of review (AOR) at the injection site;
• Limits on the maximum injection pressure at the surface based on geologic properties; and
• Limits on the maximum daily injection volume based on reservoir pressure.

In an AOR, operators are required to assess old or unplugged wells to ensure produced water would not escape through those wellbores. The new guidelines increase the AOR to half a mile – an increase from the current quarter-mile radius.

The new permitting criteria also require operators to demonstrate that their injection pressure will not fracture the confining strata of the reservoirs that produced water is injected into.

Additionally, the RRC will place limits on the maximum volumes that SWDs can inject based on the pressure in the disposal reservoirs.

These changes strengthen the Commission’s disposal well permitting requirements by focusing permitting efforts to ensure injected fluids remain confined to the disposal formations to safeguard ground and surface fresh water.

The new SWD permitting guidelines in the Permian Basin go into effect on June 1. They apply to new and amended permit applications for deep and shallow disposal wells. Applications for disposal wells that are located within 25 kilometers of a seismic event will continue to be reviewed under the agency’s seismicity review guidelines.