| (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.
(ii) If, on review of the completed application, Commission
staff determines that the field meets the criteria in paragraph (1)(A)
of this subsection, Commission staff shall notify all operators in
the field that a UFT field designation order may be presented to the
Commission for approval not less than 21 days after the date the notice
is issued unless the Commission receives a written objection. If the
applicant provides written waivers of objection from all operators
in the field, then notice to the operators in the field shall not
be required.
(iii) If the Commission receives a timely filed written
objection to the notice of the proposal to designate the field as
a UFT field, or if Commission staff determines that the field does
not qualify for designation as a UFT field, then the applicant for
UFT field designation may request that the application be set for
hearing.
(iv) If the applicant requests a hearing, the Commission
shall send a notice of hearing to all operators in the field proposed
for designation as a UFT field at least 15 days in advance of the
hearing.
(v) Following a hearing on the request, the hearings
examiner may present a recommendation to the Commission regarding
the request to designate the field as a UFT field.
(j) Effect of special field rules for UFT fields.
(1) Special field rules for a UFT field shall prevail
over all conflicting provisions of this chapter.
(2) The Commission may on its own motion or on the
motion of an operator in a field call a hearing to review the current
special field rules applicable in a field that is designated or proposed
to be designated as a UFT field and request amendment or rescission
of any portion of the current field rules, in conjunction with such
designation, so that the field is regulated with the appropriate combination
of special field rules and the rules in this chapter to effectively
and efficiently protect correlative rights and/or prevent waste.
(3) The following provisions shall apply with respect
to specific amendments to the special field rules for a UFT field.
(A) A special field rule amendment hearing is not required
for the following amendments:
(i) reduction of the standard and/or optional density
to one-half of the existing standard and/or optional density;
(ii) deletion of the between-well spacing rule; or
(iii) replacement of the allowable provided by special
field rules with the allowable provided by §3.31 of this title, §3.45
of this title (relating to Oil Allowables), and subsection (d)(4)
and (5) of this section.
(B) To request one or more of the amendments listed
in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the operator shall submit to
the Commission a request for amendment and engineering and/or geological
data to support the requested amendments. For each exhibit submitted,
the operator shall include a written explanation showing that the
requested amendment will result in the protection of correlative rights
and/or the prevention of waste.
(C) Upon receipt of a request for amendment, the Commission
shall provide notice of the request to all operators in the field.
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 the requested amendment. If the Commission
receives a timely filed written objection, the applicant may request
a hearing to establish through the submission of competent evidence
that the requested amendment is necessary for continued development
of a designated UFT field, and will result in the protection of correlative
rights and/or prevention of waste.
(k) Exceptions to §3.38 for a well in a UFT field.
To request an exception to §3.38 of this title for a well in
a UFT field:
(1) The operator shall submit to the Commission a written
request for an exception to §3.38 of this title. The operator
shall clearly state on the drilling permit application whether the
density exception is sought under this subsection or through the provisions
of §3.38 of this title.
(2) The Commission shall send written notice of the
request for an exception to §3.38 of this title filed under this
subsection to any designated operators, lessees of record for tracts
that have no designated operator, and all owners of unleased mineral
interests:
(A) within 600 feet from the location of a vertical
well completed within the UFT field; or
Cont'd... |
