ProPublica: Oklahoma Regulators Let Citation Oil & Gas Avoid Punishment
Citation Oil & Gas has accumulated more than 1,000 rule violations and pollution reports over the past decade in Oklahoma, making it the most-named company in the state’s oil and gas database, ProPublica reported. Despite persistent staff recommendations for administrative punishment, state regulators allowed the company to continue operations without paying fines or facing formal enforcement cases.
Wastewater Leaks Threaten Drinking Water Near Ardmore
The regulatory conflict centered on the Bayou, a mile-wide oil field located about 30 miles north of the Texas border near Ardmore. Wastewater began gushing from the ground, creating an oily sheen on local creeks and leaving wide scars of salt across land.
Federal reports from the Environmental Protection Agency warned that the purges threatened drinking water sources in the area. Days prior to the shutdown, the oil division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission asked Citation to cut its injection pressures in half. The agency temporarily shut down 22 injection wells in the Bayou, 19 of which belonged to Citation.
Regulators Overrule Staff Recommendations
Internal agency documents and video recordings reviewed by reporters revealed a sharp divide between staff investigators and leadership. In November 2023, consultants from the environmental engineering firm Halff presented findings from a state-funded contract, displaying a report with evidence that tied Citation’s injection to the wastewater that gushed to the surface in the Bayou.
New: Citation Oil & Gas is named more often than any other company in Oklahoma’s database of oil field pollution incidents and violations — listed more than 1,000 times over the past decade. The state’s oil regulator has never punished the company. https://t.co/KQwUamRzQY
Groundwater tests near the purge sites confirmed high levels of salt, bromide, and the carcinogen benzene, which exceeded EPA drinking water standards by five times. Staff recommended that Citation permanently plug nearby abandoned wells that served as pathways for the fluid to reach the surface.
Citation disputed the findings, arguing through its own consultants that the contamination stemmed from historic oil drilling dating back to the 1920s and recent rainfall. Jeff Lewis, a Citation engineering manager, insisted the company’s data showed its injection wells were not responsible for the purges.
Despite the staff evidence and recommendations, agency leadership declined to pursue formal administrative penalties. In April 2024, then-oil division Director Robyn Strickland and other state officials permitted Citation to restart injection at pressures higher than the levels recommended by the state’s engineering consultants.
State Strategy on Aging Infrastructure
Current and former employees at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission attribute the lenient treatment to Citation’s status as the state’s second-largest well owner. The company acquired many aging, low-producing wells in 2010 after larger oil corporations departed for more lucrative fields in Texas and elsewhere. Regulators avoided strict enforcement out of concern that imposing heavy penalties might cause Citation to abandon the marginal wells, leaving the financial liability of plugging them to the state.
An anonymous current manager at the Oklahoma agency described Citation as a persistent challenge, noting that the operator maintains major pollution issues without facing regulatory consequences. The agency’s database of pollution reports lists Citation hundreds of times more frequently than any comparable operator over the past decade. An analysis of records indicates that less than a third of enforcement cases filed by the state’s oil division since 2023 have resulted in punishment.
Regulatory Responses in Other Jurisdictions
Other states have taken more punitive measures against Citation, which operates wells across 11 states. In 2017, the company reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice agreeing to pay $2.25 million over allegations of underpaid royalties on federal land in Wyoming, though the agreement did not establish liability, according to the U.S. Department of Justice archives. Utah also issued a $700,000 settlement in 2025 following a crude oil and wastewater spill, and environmental regulators in Texas and Colorado have levied fines against the company in recent years.
Jack Damrill, spokesperson for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, declined to answer questions regarding the agency’s handling of Citation’s compliance record, citing potential future enforcement actions or litigation. Strickland has since left the regulatory agency to serve as chief projects officer for the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and did not respond to requests for comment. A Citation executive likewise declined to comment on written questions submitted by reporters.