Texas Insurers Predict More Earthquakes, Rise in Claims During Next Administration

Insurance companies are preparing for a renewed fracking boom.

By Alexandra HartNovember 18, 2016 12:29 pm, ,

With mounting evidence that fracking is responsible for the rising frequency of earthquakes near fracking sites in Oklahoma, insurers there have been sent scrambling to safeguard a growing market of homeowners and commercial properties against the damages possibly caused by the practice. Now with a new administration taking root, Texas is primed to see a decrease in regulations – and a possible increase in earthquakes.

The insurance industry in Texas does not yet offer many protections against losses due to earthquakes – but that could change. Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton recently acknowledged it’s possible that wastewater from fracking may be correlated to a rise in earthquakes. Because of this growing consensus, insurers are preparing for a renewed fracking boom.

Jon Prior of the Dallas Business Journal recently looked into how the oil and insurance industries are preparing for upcoming regulation changes due to the administration shift.

“The market is going to drive how much activity there is more than anything the Trump administration would do,” he says. “When you hear industry officials talk about the election last week and what it means for them, they’re looking more at what the administration can do to clear up red tape, [to] clear up projects.”

What you’ll hear in this segment:

–How the price of oil that could be affecting the activity we see from earthquakes

–What a Trump administration could mean for fracking in Texas

–The possible rise in insurance claims if fracking increases in the state