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TITLE 16ECONOMIC REGULATION
PART 1RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS
CHAPTER 3OIL AND GAS DIVISION
RULE §3.31Gas Reservoirs and Gas Well Allowable

(a) General.

  (1) Allowables of gas wells not currently assigned an allowable will not be made effective:

    (A) prior to the well's completion or reclassification date; or

    (B) more than 15 days prior to the date all reports or information necessary to the assignment of an allowable are received in the appropriate commission office.

  (2) If a report or item of information necessary to the assignment of an allowable is not filed on time, there shall be a one-day allowable reduction for each day the report or information is late.

(b) Changes in gas well allowables.

  (1) Changes in allowable of gas wells currently assigned an allowable will be effective on the date of the test or date of the change affecting the well's allowable (when the operator submits special tests or information), provided this is not more than 15 days prior to the date the special test or information is received in the appropriate Commission office.

  (2) With respect to a multicompleted well, the allowable of the second and succeeding zones will be made effective no earlier than the date the last report or item necessary for the assignment of an allowable is received in the appropriate Commission office.

  (3) When a well is recompleted as a gas well in a different field, any overproduction that has occurred in the old field must be made up before an allowable will be assigned in the new field.

  (4) The maximum daily allowable for a horizontal drainhole gas well or a gas well in a designated unconventional fracture treated (UFT) field is set forth in §3.86(d)(4) and (5) of this title (relating to Horizontal Drainhole Wells).

(c) Requirements for gas wells in a field for which an allocation formula has been adopted.

  (1) If acreage is a factor in the allocation formula, a certified plat showing the acreage assigned to the well for proration purposes shall be submitted. The plat must be accompanied by a statement that all of the acreage claimed can reasonably be considered productive of gas and that the distance limitations of the field rules have not been exceeded. If all of the acreage claimed is not contained in a single lease, a certificate of pooling authority must be submitted, on the appropriate commission form. If the distance limitations of the field rules are shown to have been exceeded, the plat must show the number of acres within and beyond the distance limitations. An operator may request an exception to the distance limitations which may be administratively approved by the commission or a commission designee if all the acreage can be considered productive. If approval of the request is declined or protest is received, the request may be set for hearing. If all of the acreage cannot be considered productive, the plat must also show the productive limit of the acreage. If a plat shows acreage in the unit in excess of the maximum number of acres permitted by the field rules, it will not be accepted.

  (2) If bottom-hole or reservoir pressure is a factor in the allocation formula, it shall be submitted on the appropriate commission form and shall be measured at, or corrected to, the proper datum plane.

  (3) If any other information, data or parameter is a factor in the allocation formula, it must be submitted on the appropriate commission form.

(d) Determining prorated reservoir allowable and lawful market demand.

  (1) On or before the 25th day of each month, the commission will determine the lawful market demand for gas to be produced from each reservoir during the upcoming allowable month. The monthly reservoir allowable shall be equal to the lawful market demand for that reservoir. The lawful reservoir market demand for prorated reservoirs shall be equal to the adjusted reservoir market demand forecast adjusted by a forecast correction adjustment, and a commission adjustment (i.e., lawful reservoir market demand = adjusted reservoir market demand forecast + forecast correction adjustment + commission adjustment).

    (A) Allowable month--The month during which allowables determined pursuant to this section will be effective.

    (B) Adjusted reservoir market demand forecast--The sum of all operator reservoir market demand forecasts for a reservoir after any necessary downward adjustments have been made to individual operator reservoir market demand forecasts and optional operator forecasts so that no such forecast will exceed the total capability of the operator's wells for the reservoir during the allowable month.

    (C) Operator reservoir market demand forecast--The sum of the operator's well forecasts for a reservoir determined by the commission pursuant to this subsection.

      (i) The commission will determine a forecast for each well that will be active during the allowable month that:

        (I) for prorated and limited wells is equal to the well's production during the same allowable month in the prior year; and

        (II) for special or administrative special allowable wells is equal to the well's production during the most recently reported production month.

      (ii) If the well had no reported production during the same allowable month in the prior year or if a special or administrative special allowable well had no reported production in the most recently reported production month, the forecast shall be equal to:

        (I) the well's highest reported monthly production during any of the three most recently reported production months; or, if no production has been reported for those months;

        (II) the well's capability.

      (iii) Alternatively, the operator reservoir market demand forecast may be determined by an optional operator forecast.

    (D) Optional operator forecast--The commission designated operator may file an optional market demand forecast for all of the operator's wells in the reservoir that is equal to the anticipated market demand for the production from the operator's wells in the field during the allowable month. The optional operator forecast for the operator's wells in the reservoir can be no greater than the total capability of the operator's wells or less than zero. An optional operator forecast must be filed by the 10th day of the month preceding the allowable month.

    (E) Forecast correction adjustment--

      (i) The February 1994 forecast correction adjustment shall be the reservoir market demand for November 1993 for all wells in a reservoir that are not administrative special allowable wells for February 1994, subtracted from the production reported for November 1993 for those wells;

      (ii) The March 1994 forecast correction adjustment shall be the reservoir market demand for December 1993 for all wells in a reservoir that are not administrative special allowable wells for March 1994, subtracted from the production reported for December 1993 for those wells;

      (iii) The April 1994 forecast correction adjustment shall be the reservoir market demand for January 1994 for all wells in a reservoir that are not administrative special allowable wells for April 1994, subtracted from the production reported for January 1994 for those wells;

      (iv) For May 1994 and subsequent months, the forecast correction adjustment shall be equal to the total reservoir production from the most recent reported month, minus (total adjusted reservoir market demand forecast for the production month + supplemental change adjustment for that month + commission adjustment for that month), minus (production from all special and administrative special allowable wells minus allowable assigned to those special wells for that month).

    (F) Supplemental change adjustment--Any adjustment to the reservoir allowable that is necessary to account for an automatic allowable revision in a prior month, a change of well or well test status during a prior month, the provisions of a final order modifying field or well production status, or any other ministerial change.

    (G) Commission adjustment--Any other adjustments to the adjusted reservoir market demand forecast that the commission determines are necessary.

  (2) The commission may reject or modify any optional operator forecast if it determines that the forecast is inaccurate or being used to manipulate the allocation of gas rather than to determine the reasonable market demand.

(e) Well capability.

  (1) No gas well shall be given an initial allowable in excess of its capability.

    (A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this paragraph, a well's capability is defined as the lesser of:

      (i) the well's latest deliverability test on file with the commission; or

      (ii) the well's highest monthly production during any of the three most recently reported production months.

    (B) If a well is a special or an administrative special allowable well, its capability is defined as the lesser of:

Cont'd...

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