| (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.
(iv) The Commission may require a better quality of
cement mixture to be used in any well or any area if conditions indicate
that a better quality of cement is necessary to prevent pollution,
isolate productive zones, potential flow zones, or zones with corrosive
formation fluids or prevent a safety issue in the well.
(E) Compressive strength tests. Cement mixtures for
which published performance data are not available must be tested
by the operator or service company. Tests shall be made on representative
samples of the basic mixture of cement and additives used, using distilled
water or potable tap water for preparing the slurry. The tests must
be conducted using the equipment and procedures in, or equipment and
procedures equivalent to those in, API RP 10B-2, Recommended Practice
for Testing Well Cements. Test data showing competency of a proposed
cement mixture to meet the above requirements must be furnished to
the Commission prior to the cementing operation. To determine that
the minimum compressive strength has been obtained, operators shall
use the typical performance data for the particular cement used in
the well (containing all the additives, including any accelerators
used in the slurry) at the following temperatures and at atmospheric
pressure.
(i) For the cement in the zone of critical cement,
the test temperature shall be within 10 degrees Fahrenheit of the
formation equilibrium temperature at the top of the zone of critical
cement.
(ii) For the filler cement, the test temperature shall
be the temperature found 100 feet below the ground surface level,
or 60 degrees Fahrenheit, whichever is greater.
(F) Cementing report. Within 30 days of completion
of the well, or within 90 days of cessation of drilling operations,
whichever is earlier, a cementing report must be filed with the Commission
furnishing complete data concerning the cementing of surface casing
in the well as specified on a form furnished by the Commission. The
operator of the well or the operator's duly authorized agent having
personal knowledge of the facts, and representatives of the cementing
company performing the cementing job, must sign the form attesting
to compliance with the cementing requirements of the Commission.
(G) Centralizers. Surface casing shall be centralized
at the shoe, above and below a stage collar or diverting tool, if
run, and through usable-quality water zones. In nondeviated holes,
pipe centralization as follows is required: a centralizer shall be
placed every fourth joint from the cement shoe to the ground surface
or to the bottom of the cellar. All centralizers shall meet specifications
in, or equivalent to, API spec 10D Specifications for Bow-Spring Casing
Centralizers; API Spec 10 TR4, Technical Report on Considerations
Regarding Selection of Centralizers for Primary Cementing Operations;
and API RP 10D-2, Recommended Practice for Centralizer Placement and
Stop Collar Testing.
(H) Alternative surface casing programs.
(i) An alternative method of fresh water protection
may be approved upon written application to the appropriate district
director. The operator shall state the reason for the alternative
fresh water protection method and outline the alternate program for
casing and cementing through the protection depth for strata containing
usable-quality water. Alternative programs for setting more than specified
amounts of surface casing for well control purposes may be requested
on a field or area basis. Alternative programs for setting less than
specified amounts of surface casing will be considered on an individual
well basis only. The district director may approve, modify, or reject
the proposed program. The district director shall deny the request
if the operator has not demonstrated that the alternative casing plan
will achieve the intent of this rule as described in subsection (a)(1)
of this section. If the proposal is modified or rejected, the operator
may request a review by the deputy director of field operations. If
the proposal is not approved administratively, the operator may request
a public hearing. An operator shall obtain approval of any alternative
program before commencing operations.
(ii) Any alternate casing program shall require the
first string of casing set through the protection depth to be cemented
in a manner that will effectively prevent the migration of any fluid
to or from any stratum exposed to the wellbore outside this string
of casing. The casing shall be cemented from the shoe to ground surface
in a single stage, if feasible, or by a multi-stage process with the
stage tool set at least 100 feet below the protection depth.
Cont'd... |
