Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
RULE G-1 ABANDONED OR LEAKING WELL AND WELL
SITE REMEDIATION
a) This rule is applicable for the following
types of wells:
1) oil and gas production
wells,
2) water supply wells used
in enhanced oil and gas recovery projects,
3) UIC Class II Disposal and Class II
Commercial Disposal wells, and
4)
UIC Class II water injection wells used in enhanced oil and gas recovery
projects.
b) Definitions
1) "Abandoned Well" means:
A) an oil and gas production well which has
not produced for over 2 years; or
B) a UIC Class II saltwater disposal or UIC
Class II water injection well which is no longer used due to the plugging of
all the wells on the lease or unit or for which and agreement to continue use
of the well has not been granted by the lease holder, or
C) a well for which the underlying lease has
been released in writing by the lessee or has been declared forfeited or
invalid by a court order, and such order is final and the appeal period has
lapsed; and the lessor states in writing that the lessor has not leased out the
oil and gas working interest to any other person and does not intend to so
lease, and that the lessor does not intend to operate the well, and that the
lessor desires that the well be plugged; or
D) a well owned or operated by a Permit
Holder who has made no payment by March 1 of a current annual well fee
assessment in accordance with Ark Code Ann. §15-71-116; or
E) a well that has been ordered to be plugged
by the Commission and the Permit Holder has failed to do so within the time
frame specified in the Commission Order; or
F) a well site which has not been properly
restored following the completion of well plugging activities.
2) "Well Site Equipment" means the
equipment, including but not limited to an associated tank battery, production
and injection facility equipment, hydrocarbons from the well that are stored in
tanks located on the lease, and hydrocarbons recovered during the plugging
operation.
3) "Well Site" means the
area around and near the well, including any associated pits, crude oil or
produced water storage tanks or other related production facility equipment,
such as injection pumps, compressors or gas processing equipment.
4) "Director" means the Oil and Gas
Commission Director of Production and Conservation.
5) "Leaking Well" means a well drilled for
the exploration, development, storage or production of oil or gas, or for
injection, saltwater disposal, saltwater source, observation, and geological or
structure test which is leaking salt water, oil, gas, or other deleterious
substance into any fresh water formation or onto the surface of the land in the
vicinity of the well.
6) "Well Site
Restoration" means remediation of a well site, including but not limited to the
following activities: an emergency clean-up of spilled crude oil or saltwater;
remediation of conditions endangering the public health or safety, or
contaminating or potentially contaminating surface waters, groundwater, or the
surface of the land; work to repair or contain leaks of produced fluids from
wells, production or injection equipment, pits or other containment structures,
which are contaminating or potentially contaminating surface waters,
groundwaters or the surface of the land; or a repairing a well leaking natural
gas or hydrogen sulfide gas endangering or potentially endangering public
safety or creating a potential a fire hazard.
c) If the Director finds, upon inspection
and/or review of Commission records, that a well drilled for the exploration,
development, storage or production of oil or gas, or for injection, saltwater
disposal, saltwater source, observation, and geological or structure test, may
be abandoned; well site restoration has not been completed; is a leaking well;
or the well or well site creates an imminent danger to the health or safety of
the public, the Director may schedule a hearing, in accordance with established
procedures.
d) If after notice and
a hearing, the Commission finds that a well drilled for the exploration,
development, storage or production of oil or gas, or for injection, saltwater
disposal, saltwater source, observation, a geological or structure test, may be
abandoned; well site restoration has not completed; is a leaking well; or the
well or well site creates an imminent danger to the health or safety of the
public; the Commission shall issue an order requiring the Permit Holder to
properly plug, re-plug, repair, or restore so as to remedy the
situation.
e) If the Permit Holder
fails to properly plug, re-plug, repair, or restore so as to remedy the
situation within 30 days from the time frame prescribed by the Commission
order, the abandoned well or well site; leaking well; a well or well site that
creates an imminent danger to the health or safety of the public; or a well
site restoration has not been completed, the well or well site shall be subject
to the provisions of this Rule.
f)
The Director may then authorize any person to enter upon the land and properly
plug, re-plug, repair, or restore so as to remedy the situation. The Director
may dispose of all well site equipment and hydrocarbons, to offset the costs of
properly plugging, re-plugging, repairing, or restoring so as to remedy the
situation. Proceeds from any public sale, auction or private sale of all well
site equipment or hydrocarbons shall be deposited into the Plugging Fund or
used to offset plugging costs. All work completed under this rule shall be paid
with funds from the Abandoned and Orphan Well Plugging Fund.
g) The Permit Holder shall reimburse the
Commission for all costs expended to remedy the situation. All payments shall
be by cashier's checks or money order, and shall be deposited in the Abandoned
and Orphaned Well Plugging Fund. Failure to reimburse the Commission will
result in the initiation of Commission enforcement action to recover the
expended funds. Prior to repayment of all expended funds, the Permit Holder
shall not be permitted to operate any other existing wells in the Permit
Holder's name. Upon repayment and prior to being permitted to operate any
wells, the Permit Holder may be required to post additional bond, as determined
by the Director in accordance with General Rule B-2, to insure against the
plugging of future abandoned wells not plugged by the Permit Holder.
RULE H-1 CLASS II DISPOSAL AND CLASS II
COMMERCIAL DISPOSAL WELL PERMIT APPLICATION
PROCEDURES
a)
Definitions:
1) "Class II Disposal
Well"--means:
A) A permitted Class II well in
which Class II Fluids are injected into zones not productive of oil and gas,
and brine used to produce bromine, within the field boundary established by an
order of the Commission for the production of liquid hydrocarbons or brine used
to produce bromine, where the well is located or will be located, for the
purpose of disposal of those fluids; or
B) A permitted Class II well in which Class
II Fluids are injected into a zone or zones, which are not commercially
productive of dry gas, within the same common source of supply, where the well
is located or will be located, for the purpose of disposal of those
fluids.
2) "Class II
Commercial Disposal Well"--means a permitted Class II well in which Class II
Fluids are injected, for which the Permit Holder receives deliveries of Class
II Fluids by tank truck from multiple oil and gas well operators, and either
charges a fee at the disposal well facility or purchases the Class II Fluids at
the source for subsequent transport to the disposal well facility for the
specific purpose of disposal of the delivered Class II Fluids.
3) "Class II Fluids" means:
A) Produced water and/or other fluids brought
to the surface in connection with drilling, completion, or fracture treatments,
workover or recompletion and plugging of oil and natural gas wells, Class II or
wells that are required to be permitted as water supply wells by the
Commission; enhanced recovery operations; or natural gas storage operations;
or
B) Produced water and/or other
fluids from (A) above, which prior to re-injection have been used on site for
purposes integrally associated to oil and natural gas well drilling,
completion, or fracture treatments, workover or recompletion and plugging of
oil and natural gas wells, Class II or wells that are required to be permitted
as water supply wells by the Commission; enhanced recovery operations; or
natural gas storage operations, or chemically treated or altered to the extent
necessary to make them usable for purposes integrally related to oil and
natural gas well drilling, completion, workover and plugging, oil and gas
production, enhanced recovery operations, or natural gas storage operations, or
commingled with fluid wastes resulting from fluid treatments outlined above,
and including any other exempted oil and gas related fluids under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, provided the commingled fluid wastes do not
constitute a hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act;
or
C) Waste fluids from gas plants
(including filter backwash, precipitated sludge, iron sponge, hydrogen sulfide
and scrubber liquid) which are an integral part of oil and gas production
operations; and waste fluids from gas dehydration plants (including
glycol-based compounds and filter backwash), unless the gas plant or gas
dehydration plant wastes are classified as hazardous under the federal Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act.
4) "Confining layer" means a geological
formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that is capable of
limiting fluid movement above an injection zone. It is composed of rock layers
that are impermeable or distinctly less permeable than the injection zone
beneath it. There may be multiple confining layers above an injection
zone.
5) "USDW" means Underground
Source of Drinking Water which is defined in Title 40, Code of Federal
Regulations (40 CFR) Section 144.3, as an aquifer or its portion which:
A) Supplies any public water system (see 40
CFR); or
B) Contains a sufficient
quantity of groundwater to supply a public water system (see 40 CFR) and
currently supplies drinking water for human consumption; or
C) Contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total
dissolved solids (see 40 CFR); and
D) Which is not an exempted aquifer (see 40
CFR)
b) No
person shall drill, recomplete or operate any well for use as a Class II
Disposal or Class II Commercial Disposal Well or inject into any well, without
a permit from the Commission, application for which shall be made on forms
prescribed by the Director. Permits shall remain valid only with ongoing
compliance with established operating requirements specified in General Rule
H-2. Failure to comply with the operating requirements in General Rule H-2 may
result in revocation of the Class II Disposal Well or Class II Commercial
Disposal Well permit. Authority to conduct an injectivity test, step rate test
or trial injection test prior to issuance of a permit may be approved as
follows:
1) An injectivity test, step rate
test or trial injection test of less than twelve (12) hours duration may be
approved by the Director upon review of the well construction to determine well
mechanical integrity for the protection of the USDW's and oil and gas resources
during the test. The Director shall establish the protective parameters of the
test, require the submittal of any information or test data deemed necessary
and may require the witnessing by Commission staff of the test.
2) An Applicant may request approval from the
Commission, by filing an application in accordance with General A-2 and A-3 and
other applicable hearing procedures, of an injectivity test, step rate test or
trial injection test of twelve (12) hours or more in duration.
c) The application to drill,
recomplete or operate a Class II Disposal or Class II Commercial Disposal Well
shall include at a minimum:
1) The information
required by subparagraph (h) below, for the existing or proposed well and any
additional information deemed necessary by the Director for the protection of
USDWs; and
2) Accompanied by any
applicable fee as described in General Rule B-1, and a non-refundable fee of
$100.00 for a Class II Disposal Well or $500.00 for a Class II Commercial
Disposal Well; and
3) Accompanied
by the required financial assurance in accordance with General Rule B-2;
and
4) Accompanied by a Form 1
Organizational Report in accordance with General Rule B-13; and
5) Be executed under penalties of
perjury
d) No person
shall inject into USDWs or be issued a permit to inject into USDWs unless an
aquifer exemption has been granted in accordance with US Environmental
Protection Agency procedures.
e)
Unless otherwise approved by the Commission, no person shall inject into a well
which does not have at a minimum, five hundred (500) feet for a Class II
Disposal Well or seven hundred-fifty (750) feet for a Class II Commercial
Disposal Well, of confining layers between the base of the lowermost USDWs and
the top of the injection interval, with no individual confining layer being
less than 50 feet in thickness. A lesser amount of confining layer(s) may be
approved, provided the Applicant provides substantial information as to the
integrity of the confining layers to inhibit the upward migration of the
injection fluids so as not to endanger the lowermost USDW in the area of the
well.
f) If the application does
not contain all of the required information or documents, the Director shall
notify the Applicant in writing. The notification shall specify the additional
information or documents necessary for an evaluation of the application and
shall advise the Applicant that the application will be deemed denied unless
the information or documents are submitted within sixty (60) days following the
date of notification.
g)
Applications for a Class II Disposal Well shall contain the names of all permit
holders who are to utilize the proposed disposal well.
h) Contents of Application
1) A specification as to the type of Class II
well being permitted as a Class II Disposal Well or a Class II Commercial
Disposal Well.
2) The Applicant
shall provide the name, address, phone, fax and e-mail (if available) of the
local or on-site supervisory or field personnel responsible for the disposal
well.
3) If the well is not located
within the boundaries of an operating oil and gas leasehold or drilling unit,
the Applicant shall provide documentation, in the form of a surface use
agreement or an affidavit of a surface use agreement, indicating the
Applicant's right to drill and to operate the proposed disposal well. If the
well is located within the boundaries of an operating oil and gas leasehold or
drilling unit, and the Applicant is someone other than the operator of the
leasehold or drilling unit, the Applicant shall provide documentation, in the
form of a surface use agreement, or an affidavit of a surface use agreement,
indicating the Applicant's right to drill and to operate the proposed disposal
well.
4) A survey plat of the
location and ground elevation of the proposed disposal well or if the
application is for an existing well, the well name and permit number of the
existing well. A new survey is not required for a well to be converted or
deepened well or a plugged well to be re-entered, if the original well location
was surveyed, a copy of which shall be submitted with the
application.
5) The name, geologic
description and top and bottom elevation, from sub-sea, of the formation
(indicating the perforated or open hole interval) into which fluid will be
injected and the geologic description and top and bottom elevation, from
sub-sea, of the above confining layers, in the proposed or existing disposal
well. If an existing well is to be converted, a geophysical log of the well
shall be submitted showing the above information. If for a proposed well, an
induction log from a well in the immediate vicinity of the proposed disposal
well shall be submitted. If the geologic name of the interval is unclear
include any additional geological evidence such as a cross section, structure
or isopach map that may be necessary to adequately define the proposed
injection interval.
6) A well bore
diagram of the proposed or existing well showing casing for the injection well,
indicating from the well head to total depth of the well, all casings and
cementing of casings, any obstructions within well, all plugs set, tubing and
packer setting depth, and all perforations and or open hole intervals. If
application is for an existing well, a cement bond log (CBL) shall be submitted
with the application, or if submitted after the application is filed, the CBL
shall be submitted prior to commencement of operations as a condition of the
permit.
7) The proposed daily
amounts to be injected, the source and the type of fluid to be injected,
including a standard laboratory analysis representative of the various types of
proposed disposal fluids, indicating chloride, pH, specific gravity, total
dissolved solids (TDS) and total percent hydrocarbon (TPH). The sample shall be
obtained and analyzed no earlier than one (180) days prior to the date of
filing of the application.
8) The
maximum injection pressure.
A) The Director
shall determine the maximum permitted injected pressure, measured at the
wellhead, by multiplying the results of the formula below by ninety percent
(90%):
i) A maximum fracture gradient not to
exceed 1.0 psi/ft (x) depth to injection formation (-) weight of
fluid column (specific gravity of injection fluid) (+) injection
tubing friction loss in Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Hempstead,
Lafayette Miller, Nevada, Ouachita, and Union counties for injection into
formations below the Midway Shale Formation; or
ii) A maximum fracture gradient not to exceed
1.0 psi/ft (x) depth to injection formation (-) weight of fluid
column (specific gravity of injection fluid) (+) injection tubing
friction loss in all other counties for injection into formations below the
Fayetteville Shale Formation in the areas covered by General Rule B-43 (c) and
(d), General Rule B-44, and the portions of Franklin, Logan, Scott, Sebastian,
and Yell Counties not covered by General Rule B-44; or
iii) A maximum fracture gradient not to
exceed 0.73 psi/ft (x) depth to injection formation (-) weight of
fluid column (specific gravity of injection fluid) (+) injection
tubing friction loss for all other formations and/or
counties.
B) An Applicant
may request an increase in the maximum injection pressure specified in
subparagraph h) 8) A) above, or appeal a Director's decision to issue a permit
utilizing a fracture gradient less than the maximum fracture gradient specified
in subparagraph h) 8) A) above, by filing an application in accordance with
General A-2, A-3 and other applicable hearing procedures. Any increase in the
maximum injection pressure may be granted if the Applicant presents sufficient
evidence to justify the requested increased injection pressure will not
initiate or propagate fractures in the overlying confining layer(s) that could
enable the injection fluid or the fluid in the injection interval to leave the
permitted injection intervals or cause movement of the injection fluid or
formation fluids into USDWs.
9) A map showing:
A) The surveyed location of the well proposed
to be drilled, deepened or converted, showing distances to the nearest property
or lease lines; and
B) The location
of all plugged and unplugged wells, which penetrate the proposed injection
interval, within the 1/2 mile radius from the proposed disposal well, and
showing the status of each well as producing, shut-in, disposal, enhanced
recovery, plugged and abandoned, or other status.
10) The Applicant shall submit evidence,
where available, that all plugged and unplugged wells which penetrate the
injection formation, within the ½ mile radius shown on the above plat in
subparagraph h) 9) C), contain an adequate amount of cement and are constructed
or plugged in a manner which will prevent the injection fluid and the fluid in
the injection formation from entering USDWs. The types of evidence that will be
considered acceptable include, but are not limited to: well completion reports,
cementing records, well construction records, cement bond logs, tracer surveys,
oxygen activation logs, and plugging records.
11) The Applicant shall submit evidence
and/or information showing that the proposed injection interval or formation is
not a USDW.
12) The Applicant shall
submit information as to the depth (subsea) of the fresh water supply in the
nearest known private water well and in the nearest known public water system
water well.
i) Notice of
the application shall be given by the Applicant by one (1) publication in a
legal newspaper having a general circulation in the county, or in each county,
if there shall be more than one, in which the one-half mile radius from the
proposed disposal well is situated, and by mailing via certified mail, a copy
of the application to each permit holder of all permitted, drilling or
producing wells within a one-half mile radius of the proposed disposal well.
Such notice shall be published or mailed no more than thirty (30) days, prior
to the date on which the application is filed with the Commission. The cost of
such notice and mailing of the application shall be paid for by the Applicant.
Attached to the application shall be copies of the return mail receipts and a
proof of publication of the application from the newspaper.
j) If notice is for a commercial disposal
well, in addition to compliance with subparagraph i) above, the commercial
disposal well application shall also be sent via certified mail, to the County
Judge of the county where the well is located and to the landowner (surface
owner) where the well is located. In addition, the public notice should be
large font and surrounded by a printed border to highlight the published
notice.
k) Objections received by
the Director, must be received by the Director within fifteen (15) days after
the publication date of the notice and the date of mailing to all parties
specified in subparagraphs i) and j) above.
l) If an objection is received or if the
application does not satisfy the requirements of this Rule, the application
shall be denied. If the application is denied under this section, the Applicant
may request to have the application referred to the Commission for
determination, in accordance with General Rules A-2 and A-3, and other
applicable hearing procedures, except that no additional filing fee is
required.
m) If an objection is not
received by the Director and the application is deemed complete, the permit
shall be issued following the required notice period specified in subparagraph
i) above, unless the Director deems it necessary, for the purpose of protecting
USDWs or oil and gas resources, that the application may be referred to the
Commission for determination.
n)
The Commission retains jurisdiction to determine zones suitable for disposal
injection based on the porosity, permeability, fluid capacity, structure,
geology and overall suitability of the zone as a disposal injection interval
with respect to protection of USDWs and oil and gas resources.
