| (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:
(i) the well's latest deliverability test on file with
the commission; or
(ii) the well's most recently reported monthly production.
(C) If a well is new to a reservoir and has been active
for less than six months, its capability shall be defined as the well's
latest deliverability test on file with the commission.
(2) An operator may submit a substitute capability
determination for any well in a prorated field that represents the
maximum monthly production capability of the well under normal operating
conditions for a specific six-month period.
(A) The determination may be made on the basis of a
well test or other acceptable information by a registered professional
engineer who certifies that the determination was made by the engineer
or under the supervision of the engineer, and that the capability
has been determined in accordance with generally accepted engineering
practices. Alternatively, the substitute capability determination
may be made by an independent tester on the basis of a well test conducted
in accordance with §3.28(c) of this title (relating to Potential
and Deliverability of Gas Wells To Be Ascertained and Reported) (Statewide
Rule 28). The request for a substitute capability must be submitted
on the appropriate form.
(B) The commission or a commission designee may reject
any substitute capability determination for good cause.
(C) The capability determined pursuant to this paragraph
shall be used as the well's capability for a period of six months
from the effective date of the determination unless:
(i) the operator files a written request that the substitute
capability determination be cancelled. If such a request is submitted,
the substitute capability may be cancelled by the commission or commission
designee; or
(ii) an affected person files a protest alleging, with
specificity, the inaccuracy or invalidity of the determination. If
a protest is filed, the commission may set the matter for hearing.
A protested substitute capability determination shall be effective
on the intended effective date, unless the commission orders otherwise.
If the commission determines that the protested substitute capability
was incorrect, appropriate allowable or status adjustments will be
made for the affected well.
(f) Fields operating under statewide rules. A statewide
prorated field is any gas field in which no special field rules have
been adopted and in which at least one well in the field has a current
reported deliverability test of greater than 250 Mcf a day. Daily
allowable production of gas from individual wells in a statewide prorated
field shall be determined by allocating the allowable production among
the individual wells in the proportion that each well's deliverability
(based on the latest deliverability test of record) bears to the summation
of the most recent reported deliverability tests of all wells producing
from the same field. Allocated allowables shall be subject to the
well capability provisions of this section.
(g) Definitions of prorated and nonprorated wells and
fields.
(1) A prorated well is a well for which an allowable
is determined by an allocation formula.
(2) A nonprorated well is a well for which an allowable
is not determined by an allocation formula.
(3) A prorated field is a field that has two or more
wells one of which is a prorated well.
(4) A nonprorated field is any field that is not a
prorated field.
(5) Statewide Exempt Fields:
(A) A statewide exempt field is any gas field in which
no special field rules have been adopted and in which no well in the
field has a current reported deliverability test of greater than 250
Mcf per day. Wells in statewide exempt fields shall be assigned allowables
equal to their capacity to produce but in no event greater than 250
Mcf per day.
(B) In fields where special field rules exist and no
well has a current deliverability test of greater than 250 Mcf per
day, an operator may request statewide exempt field status. The request
may be granted administratively by the commission or commission designee
if the applicant provides the commission with a declaration, signed
by all operators, subject to the false filing penalties provided for
in the Texas Natural Resources Code, §91.143, stating all operators
in the field agree to exempt status. If declarations are not provided
from all operators in the field or if the commission or commission
designee declines to grant any request administratively, the applicant
may request a hearing. If a notice of intent to appear in protest
of the Cont'd... |
