HOUSTON, April 11 (Reuters) - A 4.4 magnitude earthquake

that shook the largest U.S. shale field on Wednesday could lead

to further restrictions on how operators there can dispose of

saltwater associated with their oil and gas production, analysts

said.

The quake was the largest yet in the Stanton Seismic

Response Area (SRA), a swath of the Permian basin near Midland,

Texas, where regulators were already monitoring seismic activity

linked to disposal of saltwater, a natural byproduct of oil and

gas production.

The Railroad Commission of Texas(RRC), which regulates

the state's oil and natural gas industry, in 2022 developed a

plan that aimed to prevent earthquakes measuring over magnitude

3.5 in that area by mid-May of this year.

Some deep-water disposal wells in the Stanton area were

already shut as part of that plan.

"The only risk is that the event will trigger an expansion

of the SRA," said Kelly Bennett, CEO of water analytics firm B3

Insights, adding that production in the area is unlikely to be

affected.

The RRC in January of this year banned saltwater disposal

injection in a separate part of the Permian, called the Northern

Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area, after a series of seven

earthquakes measuring up to magnitude 5.2 occurred in a span of

just five weeks towards the end of last year.

That ban applied to 23 disposal wells in the area and

impacted producers including Chevron ( CVX ), BP and

Coterra Energy ( CTRA ) .

It unclear whether the RRC will enforce additional

restrictions in Stanton after Wednesday's earthquake, said Laura

Capper, chief executive of EnergyMakers Advisory Group, a water

management and risk mitigation consultancy.

"But that was a noteworthy magnitude we wish to avoid", she

added.