Environment & Climate
Oklahoma records show no fines against Citation Oil & Gas despite over 1,000 listings
ProPublica reports that Citation Oil & Gas, listed more than 1,000 times in state records, has no recorded enforcement penalties.
The short version
- ProPublica reports that Citation Oil & Gas is listed more than 1,000 times in Oklahoma's pollution and rule-violation records over a decade.[ProPublica]
- The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has no record of fining or completing an enforcement case against the company, according to the report.[ProPublica]
- ProPublica reports that state officials allowed Citation to restart injection at higher-than-recommended pressures in April 2024.[ProPublica]
- Citation argues that historic drilling and recent rainfall, not its own operations, caused the pollution.[ProPublica]
Key facts
- Citation Oil & Gas is listed more than 1,000 times over the past decade in the Oklahoma Corporation Commission's database of pollution reports and other rule violations.[ProPublica]
- The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has no record of ever fining or completing an enforcement case against Citation Oil & Gas.[ProPublica]
- ProPublica reports that in April 2024, state officials allowed Citation to restart injection at higher-than-recommended pressures.[ProPublica]
- In 2017, Citation settled with the U.S. Department of Justice for $2.25 million over alleged underpaid royalties from drilling on federal land in Wyoming, with the settlement not ruling the company liable.[ProPublica]
- In 2025, Utah reached a $700,000 settlement with Citation after a crude oil and wastewater spill.[ProPublica]
- Citation argues that historic oil drilling and recent rainfall, rather than the company, caused the pollution in the Bayou.[ProPublica]
What remains uncertain
- Whether Citation's operations caused the pollution is disputed. The company attributes it to historic drilling and recent rainfall.[ProPublica]
- The account of state officials' April 2024 decision rests on a single outlet's reporting and has not been independently confirmed by other publishers.[ProPublica]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.