| cement behind
the casing being tested. The district director shall be notified of
a failed test within 24 hours of completion of the test. In the event
of a pressure test failure, no hydraulic fracturing treatment may
be conducted until the district director has approved a remediation
plan, and the operator has implemented the approved remediation plan
and successfully re-tested the casing (or fracture tubing).
(C) During hydraulic fracturing treatment operations,
the operator shall monitor all annuli. The operator shall immediately
suspend hydraulic fracturing treatment operations if the pressures
deviates above those anticipated increases caused by pressure or thermal
transfer and shall notify the appropriate district director within
24 hours of such deviation. Further completion operations, including
hydraulic fracturing treatment operations, may not recommence until
the district director approves a remediation plan and the operator
successfully implements the approved plan.
(D) The following conditions also apply if the well
is a minimum separation well, unless otherwise approved by the director:
(i) Cementing of the production casing in a minimum
separation well shall be by the pump and plug method. The production
casing shall be cemented from the shoe up to a point at least 200
feet (measured depth) above the shoe of the next shallower casing
string that was set and cemented in the well (or to surface if the
shoe is less than 200 feet from the surface).
(ii) The operator shall pressure test the casing string
on which the pressure will be exerted during stimulation to the maximum
pressure that will be exerted during hydraulic fracturing treatment.
The operator shall notify the district director within 24 hours of
a failed test. No hydraulic fracturing treatment may be conducted
until the district director has approved a remediation plan, and the
operator has implemented the approved remediation plan and successfully
re-tested the casing (or fracture tubing).
(iii) The production casing for any minimum separation
well shall not be disturbed for a minimum of eight hours after cement
is in place and casing is hung-off, and in no case shall the casing
be disturbed until the cement has reached a minimum compressive strength
of 500 psi.
(iv) In addition to conducting an evaluation of cementing
records and annular pressure monitoring results, the operator of a
minimum separation well shall run a cement evaluation tool to assess
radial cement integrity and placement behind the production casing.
If the cement evaluation indicates insufficient isolation, completion
operations may not re-commence until the district director approves
a remediation plan and the operator successfully implements the approved
plan.
(v) The operator of a minimum separation well may request
from the appropriate district director approval of an exemption from
the requirement to run a cement evaluation tool. Such request shall
include information demonstrating that the operator has:
(I) successfully set, cemented, and tested the casing
for which the exemption is requested in at least five minimum separation
wells by the same operator in the same operating field;
(II) obtained cement evaluation tool logs that support
the findings of cementing records, annular pressure monitoring results
or other tests demonstrating that successful cement placement was
achieved to isolate productive zones, potential flow zones, and/or
zones with corrosive formation fluids; and
(III) shown that the well for which the exemption is
requested will be constructed and cemented using the same or similar
techniques, methods, and cement formulation used in the five wells
that have had successful cement jobs.
(8) Pipeline shut-off valves for bay and offshore wells.
All bay and offshore gathering pipelines designed to transport oil,
gas, condensate, or other oil or geothermal resource field fluids
from a well or platform shall be equipped with automatically controlled
shut-off valves at critical points in the pipeline system. Other safety
equipment shall be in full working order as a safeguard against spillage
from pipeline ruptures.
(9) Training for bay and offshore wells. All tool pushers,
drilling superintendents, and operators' representatives (when the
operator is in control of the drilling) shall be required to, upon
request, furnish certification of satisfactory completion of an American
Petroleum Institute (API) training program, an International Association
of Drilling Contractors (IADC) training program, or other equivalent
nationally recognized training program on well control equipment and
procedures. The certification shall be renewed every two years by
attending an API- or IADC-approved refresher course or a refresher
course approved by the equivalent nationally recognized training program.
(10) Bottom-hole pressure surveys. The Commission may
require bottom-hole pressure surveys of the various fields at such
times as determined to be necessary. However, operators shall be required
to take bottom-hole pressures only in those wells that are not likely
to suffer damaging effects from the survey. Tubing and tubingheads
shall be free from obstructions in wells used for bottom-hole pressure
test purposes.
(b) Casing and cementing requirements for land wells
and bay wells.
(1) Surface casing requirements for land wells and
bay wells.
(A) Any proposal to set surface casing to a depth of
3,500 feet or greater shall require prior approval of the appropriate
district director. A request for such approval shall be in writing
and shall specify how the operator plans to maintain well control
during drilling, and ensure successful circulation and adequate bonding
of cement, and, if necessary, prevent upward migration of deeper formation
fluids into protected water. The district director may grant approvals
on an area basis.
(B) Amount required.
(i) An operator shall set and cement sufficient surface
casing to protect all usable-quality water strata, as defined by the
Groundwater Advisory Unit of the Oil and Gas Division. Unless surface
casing requirements are specified in field rules approved prior to
the effective date of this rule, before drilling any well, an operator
shall obtain a letter from the Groundwater Advisory Unit of the Oil
and Gas Division stating the protection depth. In no case, however,
is surface casing to be set deeper than 200 feet below the specified
depth without prior approval from the district director. The district
director may grant such approval on an area basis.
(ii) Any well drilled to a total depth of 1,000 feet
or less below the ground surface may be drilled without setting surface
casing provided no shallow gas sands or abnormally high pressures
are known to exist at depths shallower than 1,000 feet below the ground
surface; and further, provided that production casing is cemented
from the shoe to the ground surface by the pump and plug method.
(C) Cementing. Cementing shall be by the pump and plug
method. Sufficient cement shall be used to fill the annular space
outside the casing from the shoe to the ground surface or to the bottom
of the cellar. If cement does not circulate to ground surface or the
bottom of the cellar, the operator or the operator's representative
shall obtain the approval of the district director for the procedures
to be used to perform additional cementing operations, if needed,
to cement surface casing from the top of the cement to the ground
surface.
(D) Cement quality.
(i) Surface casing strings must be allowed to stand
under pressure until the cement has reached a compressive strength
of at least 500 psi in the zone of critical cement before drilling
plug or initiating a test. The cement mixture in the zone of critical
cement shall have a 72-hour compressive strength of at least 1,200
psi.
(ii) An operator may use cement with volume extenders
above the zone of critical cement to cement the casing from that point
to the ground surface, but in no case shall the cement have a compressive
strength of less than 100 psi at the time of drill out nor less than
250 psi 24 hours after being placed.
(iii) In addition to the minimum compressive strength
of the cement, the free water content shall be minimized to the greatest
extent practicable in the cement slurry to be used in the zone of
critical cement. In no event shall the free water separation average
more than two milliliters per 250 milliliters of cement tested in
accordance with the current API RP 10B-2: Recommended Practice for
Testing Well Cements, inside the zone of critical cement, or more
than six milliliters per 250 milliliters of cement tested outside
the zone of critical cement.
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