| (iii) all owners of unleased mineral interests where
there is no designated operator or lessee.
(C) In the event the applicant is unable after due
diligence to locate the whereabouts of any person to whom notice is
required by this subsection, the applicant shall publish notice of
this application pursuant to Chapter 1 of this title (relating to
Practice and Procedure).
(D) If any mineral owner of an offsite tract objects
to the location of the penetration point, the applicant may request
a hearing to demonstrate the necessity of the location of the penetration
point of the well to prevent waste or to protect correlative rights.
(E) If any person specified in subparagraph (B) of
this paragraph did not receive notice as required in subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph, that person may request a hearing. If the Commission
determines at a hearing that the applicant did not provide the notice
as required by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the Commission
may cancel the permit.
(F) To mitigate the potential for wellbore collisions,
the applicant shall provide copies of any directional surveys to the
parties entitled to notice under this section, upon request, within
15 days of the applicant's receipt of a request.
(2) Drilling unit plat. The application to drill a
horizontal drainhole shall be accompanied by a plat as required by §3.5(h)
of this title (relating to Application to Drill, Deepen, Reenter,
or Plug Back).
(A) For fields that require a proration unit plat,
in addition to the plat requirements provided for in §3.5(h)
of this title, the plat shall include the lease, pooled unit or unitized
tract, showing the acreage assigned to the drilling unit for the proposed
well and the acreage assigned to the drilling units for all current
applied for, permitted, or completed oil, gas, or oil and gas wells
on the lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract.
(B) An amended drilling permit application and plat
shall be filed after completion of the horizontal drainhole well if
the Commission determines that the drainhole as drilled is not reasonable
with respect to the drainhole represented on the plat filed with the
drilling permit application. A horizontal drainhole, as drilled, shall
be considered reasonable with respect to the drainhole represented
on the plat filed with the drilling permit application if the take
points on the as-drilled plat comply with subsection (b)(4) and (5)
of this section and with any applicable lease line spacing rules.
(3) Directional survey. A directional survey from the
surface to the farthest point drilled on the horizontal drainhole
shall be required for all horizontal drainholes. The directional survey
and accompanying reports shall be conducted and filed in accordance
with §3.11 and §3.12 of this title (relating to Inclination
and Directional Surveys Required, and Directional Survey Company Report,
respectively). No allowable shall be assigned to any horizontal drainhole
well until an acceptable directional survey and survey plat has been
filed with the Commission.
(4) Proration unit plat. The required proration unit
plat must depict the lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract, showing
the acreage assigned to the proration unit for the horizontal drainhole
well, the acreage assigned to the proration units for all wells on
the lease, pooled unit, or unitized tact, and the path, penetration
point, take points, and terminus of all drainholes. No allowable shall
be assigned to any horizontal drainhole well until an acceptable proration
unit plat has been filed with the Commission. Proration unit plats
are not required for wells in a designated UFT field. However, an
operator of a well in a designated UFT field may file a proration
unit plat along with Form P-16. Designated UFT fields have no maximum
diagonal limit.
(5) As-drilled plat. An as-drilled plat is required
for each horizontal drainhole well. The as-drilled plat for each horizontal
drainhole well shall show the surface location, actual wellbore path,
penetration point, terminus, and first and last take points of the
horizontal drainhole. If the drilling permit for the horizontal drainhole
well is approved with one or more NPZs, the as-drilled plat shall
show the nearest take point on either side of each NPZ.
(6) Plat requirements. All plats required by this section
shall be prepared using blue or black ink and shall include a certification
by a professional land surveyor registered in accordance with Texas
Occupations Code, Chapter 1071, relating to Land Surveyors, or by
a registered professional engineer registered in accordance with Texas
Occupations Code, Chapter 1001, relating to Professional Engineers.
(h) Exceptions and procedure for obtaining exceptions.
(1) The Commission may grant exceptions to this section
in order to prevent waste, prevent confiscation, or to protect correlative
rights.
(2) If a permit to drill a horizontal drainhole requires
an exception to this section, the notice and opportunity for hearing
procedures for obtaining exceptions to the density provisions prescribed
in §3.38 of this title shall be followed as set forth in §3.38(h)
of this title.
(3) For notice purposes, the Commission presumes that
for each adjacent tract and each tract nearer to any point along the
proposed or existing horizontal drainhole than the prescribed minimum
lease-line spacing distance, affected persons include:
(A) the designated operator;
(B) all lessees of record for tracts that have no designated
operator; and
(C) all owners of record of unleased mineral interests.
(i) UFT field designation criteria, application and
approval procedures.
(1) Criteria for UFT field designation.
(A) Administrative UFT field designation. To be designated
administratively as a UFT field, a field shall have the following
characteristics:
(i) the in situ permeability
of at least one distinct producible interval within the field is 0.1
millidarcies or less prior to hydraulic fracture treatment, as determined
by core data or other supporting data and analysis; and
(ii) as to producing wells for which the Commission
issued the initial drilling permit on or after February 1, 2012, that
have been completed in the field, either:
(I) there are at least five such wells of which at
least 65% were drilled horizontally and completed using hydraulic
fracture treatment; or
(II) there are at least twenty-five such wells drilled
horizontally and completed using hydraulic fracture treatment.
(B) Alternative UFT field designation obtained through
evidentiary hearing. If an applicant demonstrates in a hearing that
reservoir characteristics exist other than the characteristics specified
in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph such that horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracture treatment must be used in order to recover
the resources from all or a part of the field and that UFT field designation
will promote orderly development of the field, the hearings examiner
may recommend to the Commission that the field be designated as a
UFT field.
(2) Procedures for UFT field designation.
(A) Commission motion to designate a UFT field. The
Commission may on its own motion propose that a field be designated
as a UFT field upon written notice of the motion to all operators
in the field.
(i) If no written objection is filed within 21 days
after the date the notice is issued, Commission staff may present
a recommendation to the Commission regarding designation of the field
as a UFT field.
(ii) If the Commission receives a timely filed written
objection, the Commission shall notify the operators in the field
that an objection was received and allow any operator in the field
21 days to request a hearing. Pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) of this
subsection, the operator requesting the hearing shall bear the burden
of proof at the hearing. If no request to set the matter for hearing
is received from an operator in the field, the Commission may either
dismiss the matter or set the matter for hearing on its own motion.
If the matter is set for hearing on the Commission's motion, the proponents
of UFT field designation shall bear the burden of proof.
(B) Operator application for UFT designation.
(i) An operator may propose that a field be designated
as a UFT field by submitting an application to the Commission that
includes an affirmative statement that the field qualifies for designation
as a UFT field and providing core data or other supporting data and
analysis in support of that affirmative statement.
Cont'd... |
