| (1) Operating pressure. The operating pressure of each
hydrocarbon storage well shall not exceed the permitted maximum allowable
operating pressure for that well. The permitted maximum allowable
operating pressure is that pressure specified in the Commission permit
or order, or, if not specified in the permit or order, that pressure
stated in the application or the application for amendment to a permit
or order. The maximum operating pressure at the shoe of the lowermost
cemented casing shall not exceed 0.8 pounds per square inch per foot
of depth.
(2) Volume of hydrocarbons stored. The quantity of
hydrocarbons stored in a cavern shall not exceed the permitted maximum
storage volume for that cavern. The permitted maximum hydrocarbon
storage volume is that volume specified in the Commission permit or
order, or, if not specified in the permit or order, that volume stated
in the application or the application for amendment to a permit or
order.
(l) Monitoring requirements.
(1) Pressures. Each hydrocarbon storage well shall
be equipped with pressure sensors that continuously monitor and display
wellhead pressures on both the product and brine sides of the wellhead
at the control room. Each hydrocarbon storage well with a safety string
shall be equipped with a pressure sensor and the sensor shall continuously
monitor the pressure on the safety string at the wellhead.
(2) Pressure gauges. Each hydrocarbon storage well
shall be equipped with gauges on both the brine and hydrocarbon sides
of the wellhead.
(3) Volumes injected and withdrawn. The volume of hydrocarbons
injected into and withdrawn from each hydrocarbon storage well shall
be measured by:
(A) flow meter for each well; or
(B) an alternate method approved by the Commission
or its designee.
(4) Measurement performance. The accuracy of hydrocarbon
volume measurement devices or methods required under paragraph (3)
of this subsection shall be verified at least once each year by a
person who is not an officer or employee of the owner or operator,
or any affiliate of the owner or operator. For purposes of this section,
an affiliate is any person or entity that owns, is owned by, or is
under common ownership with the owner or the operator. In the case
of meters, verification includes witnessing meter calibration or proving
conducted by the owner or operator or an affiliate of the owner or
operator.
(5) Data recording. Within three years of the effective
date of this section, operators shall have installed and have functioning
equipment to electronically record all liquid and gas pressures, volumes,
and flow rates at a frequency of at least once per minute, and all
actuations of the emergency shutdown valve.
(m) Reporting. The operator shall report maximum wellhead
pressures on the hydrocarbon and brine sides of each hydrocarbon storage
well and the net volumes of hydrocarbons injected into and withdrawn
from each hydrocarbon storage well in accordance with the instructions
on the annual report form prescribed by the Commission.
(n) Operations, construction, and maintenance records
retention.
(1) Hydrocarbon injection and withdrawal data.
(A) The operator shall retain for at least three months
all electronic records of hydrocarbon storage well pressures, flow
rates, and hydrocarbon volumes injected into and withdrawn from each
well, and the hydrocarbon inventory of each cavern. These electronic
data shall be recorded at a frequency of at least once per minute.
(B) The operator shall retain for at least five years
the records, reported to the Commission under subsection (m) of this
section, of maximum monthly wellhead pressures on the hydrocarbon
and brine sides of each hydrocarbon storage well and the monthly net
volumes of hydrocarbons injected into and withdrawn from each hydrocarbon
storage well. These electronic data shall be recorded at a frequency
of at least once per day.
(2) Records retention. The operator shall retain for
at least five years the records of measurement performance under subsection
(l)(4) of this section; and testing of safety devices under subsection
(h) of this section. Records of any test of a safety device required
under subsection (h) of this section shall be available for on-site
inspection within 10 days of the date of the test.
(3) Construction and maintenance data. The operator
shall retain for the life of the facility documents and records pertaining
to the drilling, mining, completion, major repairs, and workovers
of storage wells and testing of storage well integrity, and shall
transfer all such documents and records to any new owner and/or new
operator of the facility.
(4) Extension during investigation. Any documents or
records that contain information pertinent to the resolution of any
pending regulatory enforcement proceeding shall be retained beyond
the prescribed retention until the resolution of such proceeding.
(o) Testing and maintenance.
(1) Integrity tests for wells in salt domes with a
single casing string. Each hydrocarbon storage well drilled into a
salt dome and having a single casing string cemented to the surface
shall have the casing inspected by mechanical, ultrasonic, or magnetic
methods at least once every five years and after each workover that
involves physical changes to the cemented casing string.
(2) Integrity tests for wells other than those in salt
domes with a single casing string. Each hydrocarbon storage well shall
be tested for integrity prior to being placed into service, at least
once every five years, and after each workover that involves physical
changes to any cemented casing string. The following requirements
apply to all such integrity tests.
(A) A hydrocarbon storage well shall be tested for
integrity by the nitrogen-brine interface method or an alternative
approved by the Commission, or its designee.
(B) A test procedure shall be filed with the Commission
for approval at least 10 days before the test date.
(C) The operator shall notify the district office at
least five days prior to conducting any integrity test.
(D) A complete record of each integrity test shall
be filed in duplicate with the district office within 30 days after
testing is completed. The record shall include a chronology of the
test, copies of all downhole logs, storage well completion information,
pressure readings, volume measurements, temperature logs and readings,
and an explanation of the test results that addresses the precision
of the test in terms of a calculated leak rate.
(E) Storage well pressures shall be allowed to stabilize
to a rate of change of less than 10 psi in 24 hours before the testing
period begins.
(3) Storage wellhead and casing. Storage wellhead components
and casing shall be inspected at least once every 10 years for corrosion,
cracks, deformations or other conditions that may compromise integrity
and that may not be detected by the five-year test. The operator may
request an extension of up to five years from the Commission for good
cause. Factors the Commission may consider in determining good cause
pursuant to this paragraph include by are not limited to the age,
location, and configuration of the well; well and facility history;
operator compliance record; operator efforts to comply with this subsection;
and accuracy of inventory control.
(4) Product, fresh water, and brine surface piping.
Within one year of the effective date of this section, the operator
shall submit a piping integrity management plan for approval by the
Commission or its designee. Within three years of the effective date
of this section, or in conjunction with the storage well integrity
testing, all product, freshwater, and brine surface piping shall be
maintained according to the facility's piping integrity management
plan.
(5) Alternative monitoring. An operator may request
the Commission or its designee to approve storage well pressure monitoring
as an alternative to integrity testing for hydrocarbon storage wells
that are out of storage service. An out-of-service storage well must
be tested for integrity according to the procedures specified in paragraph
(2) of this subsection before it may be returned to storage service.
(p) Plugging.
(1) Plug on abandonment. A hydrocarbon storage well
shall be plugged upon permanent abandonment in a manner approved by
the Commission or its designee. A proposal for plugging shall be submitted
to the Commission in Austin for approval or modification prior to
plugging. Following approval of a plugging plan, the operator shall
file a notification of intent to plug at least five days prior to
commencement of plugging operations. A plugging report shall be filed
with the Commission in Austin within 30 days after plugging.
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