| (a) Requirements for spacing, density, and units. An
application for a permit to drill, deepen, plug back, or reenter any
oil well, gas well, or geothermal resource well shall be made under
the provisions of §§3.37, 3.38, 3.39, and/or 3.40 of this
title (relating to Statewide Spacing Rule; Well Densities; Proration
and Drilling Units: Contiguity of Acreage and Exception Thereto; and
Assignment of Acreage to Pooled Development and Proration Units) (Statewide
Rules 37, 38, 39, and 40), or as an exception thereto, or under special
rules governing any particular oil, gas, or geothermal resource field
or as an exception thereto and filed with the commission on a form
approved by the commission. An application must be accompanied by
any relevant information, form, or certification required by the Railroad
Commission or a commission representative necessary to determine compliance
with this rule and state law.
(b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Application--Request by an organization made either
on the prescribed form or electronically pursuant to procedures for
electronic filings adopted by the commission for a permit to drill,
deepen, plug back, or reenter any oil well, gas well, or geothermal
resource well.
(2) Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas.
(3) Commission representative--A commission employee
authorized to act for the commission. Any authority given to a commission
representative is also retained by the commission. Any action taken
by the commission representative is subject to review by the commission.
(c) Commencement of operations. Operations of drilling,
deepening, plugging back, or reentering shall not be commenced until
the permit has been granted by the commission and the waiting period,
if any, has terminated, or authorization has been granted pursuant
to subsection (d) of this section.
(d) Testing of existing wells in other reservoirs inside
the casing. For an existing well, an operator may request authorization
to commence operations to deepen inside the casing or plug back prior
to the granting of a permit to deepen or plug back.
(1) This authorization shall be requested by submitting
a request with the district office to deepen inside the casing or
plug back. The request shall include:
(A) the operator name;
(B) the lease name;
(C) the lease number or gas identification number;
(D) well number;
(E) county;
(F) field name;
(G) a list of all reservoir(s) to be tested;
(H) the casing setting depth and the depth of the deepest
reservoir to be tested;
(I) a plat showing the well location; and
(J) a statement as to whether or not the well location
would require an exception to §§3.37, 3.38, 3.39, and/or
3.40 of this title (relating to Statewide Spacing Rule; Well Densities;
Proration and Drilling Units: Contiguity of Acreage and Exception
Thereto; and Assignment of Acreage to Pooled Development and Proration
Units) (Statewide Rules 37, 38, 39, and 40) if completed in any of
the reservoirs to be tested. If an exception would be required, the
request shall also include a statement that all affected offsets have
been given written notice of the intent to test with the opportunity
to witness the testing and the offsets shall be identified on the
plat.
(2) Operations of deepening inside the casing or plugging
back shall not be commenced until the district office has reviewed
and approved the request. Testing pursuant to this authorization shall
be completed within 90 days from the date the district office approves
the request.
(A) No reservoir tested pursuant to the provisions
of this subsection shall be tested for more than 15 days.
(B) If the operator desires to place the well on production,
the operator shall shut in the well, with no production being sold,
and file a permit application for the tested reservoirs with the appropriate
fees. If the permit application for the tested reservoirs requires
an exception to §§3.37, 3.38, 3.39, and/or 3.40 of this
title (relating to Statewide Spacing Rule; Well Densities; Proration
and Drilling Units: Contiguity of Acreage and Exception Thereto; and
Assignment of Acreage to Pooled Development and Proration Units) (Statewide
Rules 37, 38, 39, and 40), no consideration will be given by the commission
to the cost of recompleting and testing the well in determining whether
or not to grant the exception.
(C) Within 30 days of completion of testing, the operator
must either file an application for a permit to produce a reservoir
tested pursuant to this subsection or file an amended completion report
in accordance with §3.16 of this title (relating to Log and Completion
or Plugging Report) (Statewide Rule 16) with a copy of the request
signed by the district office and a statement that a permit to produce
a tested reservoir is not being sought, or if the well has been plugged
and abandoned, a plugging report including reservoir and perforation
data. If a permit is not obtained for the tested reservoirs and/or
an allowable is not assigned, the producer shall report all test production
on Form PR, Monthly Production Report, filed for the last permitted
reservoir in which the well was completed and may request authorization
to sell the test production. The test production may be sold after
such authorization is granted.
(e) Exploratory and specialty wells. An application
for any exploratory well or cathodic protection well that penetrates
the base of the fresh water strata, fluid injection well, injection
water source well, disposal well, brine solution mining well, or underground
hydrocarbon storage well shall be made and filed with the commission
on a form approved by the commission. Operations for drilling, deepening,
plugging back, or reentering shall not be commenced until the permit
has been granted by the commission. For an exploratory well, an exception
to filing such form prior to commencing operations may be obtained
if an application for a core hole test is filed with the commission.
(f) Drilling permit fee. With each application or materially
amended application, the applicant shall submit to the commission
a nonrefundable fee as determined by §3.78 of this title (relating
to Fees and Financial Security Requirements) (Statewide Rule 78).
(g) Expiration. Any permit to drill, deepen, plug back,
or reenter granted by the commission expires no later than two years
after the date of original approval.
(h) Plats. An application to drill, deepen, plug back,
or reenter shall be accompanied by a neat, accurate plat, with a scale
of one inch equals 1,000 feet. The plat for the initial well on the
lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract shall show the entire lease,
pooled unit, or tract, including all tracts being pooled. If necessary
to show the entire lease, the scale may be one inch equals 2,000 feet.
Plats for subsequent wells on a lease or pooled unit shall show at
least the lease or pooled unit line nearest the proposed location
and the nearest survey/section lines. The Division Director or the
director's delegate may approve plats with other scales upon request.
(1) The lease shall be outlined on the plat using either
a heavy line or crosshatching.
(2) For vertical wells, the plat shall include the
following:
(A) the surface location of the proposed drilling site;
(B) perpendicular lines providing the distance in feet
from the two nearest non-parallel survey/section lines to the surface
location;
(C) perpendicular lines providing the distance in feet
from the two nearest non-parallel lease lines to the surface location;
(D) a line providing the distance in feet from the
surface location to the nearest point on the lease line, pooled unit
line, or unitized tract line. If there is an unleased interest in
a tract of the pooled unit that is nearer than the pooled unit line,
the nearest point on that unleased tract boundary shall be used;
(E) a line providing the distance in feet from the
surface location to the nearest oil, gas, or oil and gas well identified
by number either applied for, permitted, or completed in the same
lease, pooled unit, or unitized tract and in the same field and reservoir;
(F) the geographic location information, including
the Latitude/Longitude or X/Y coordinates in the NAD 27, NAD 83, or
WGS 84 coordinate system;
(G) a labeled scale bar; and
(H) northerly direction.
(3) For horizontal wells, the plat shall include the
following:
(A) the surface location of the proposed drilling site,
penetration point, first take point, last take point, and terminus
location;
(B) perpendicular lines providing the distance in feet
from the two nearest non-parallel survey/section lines to the surface
location;
Cont'd... |
