California Code of Regulations
Title 14 - Natural Resources
Division 2 - Department of Conservation
Chapter 4 - Development, Regulation, and Conservation of Oil and Gas Resources
Subchapter 1 - Onshore Well Regulations
Article 5 - Requirements for Underground Gas Storage Projects
Section 1726.7 - Monitoring Requirements
Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) The operator shall monitor for the presence of gas in all annuli by measuring and recording annular and tubing pressure at least once a day. The operator shall evaluate any anomalous annular gas occurrence and immediately report it to the Division. This requirement may be met by employment of a real-time data gathering system, such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition.
(b) The operator shall monitor the material balance of an underground gas storage project's storage reservoir relative to the original design and expected reservoir behavior. The operator shall evaluate and correct unexpected conditions detected during monitoring in order to avoid an incident or loss. Monitoring frequency shall be based on factors such as reservoir and well fluid loss potential and flow potential, as outlined in the Risk Management Plan.
(c) The operator shall immediately report to the Division any instance of an unintended surface or cellar gas release of any size, in any location within the area of review of the underground gas storage project. Unless the operator demonstrates that the gas is not from the underground gas storage project or a gas storage well, Division may require the operator to chemically fingerprint the gas from such a release, and the operator shall provide the results of the gas analysis to the Division as soon as they are available.
(d) The operator of an underground gas storage project shall employ a real-time data gathering system, such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, by January 1, 2020. At a minimum, the real-time data gathering system shall be deployed and utilized in accordance with the following requirements:
(e) The operator of an underground gas storage project shall develop a program, which shall be submitted to the Division for review and approval, to conduct a baseline and subsequent gas detection logs on each gas storage well to detect gas indications behind casing. The operator shall provide the results of the gas detection logs to the Division with comparison of the logs noting any changes in the indicated gas behind the casing. If the comparison indicates increasing gas accumulations behind casing, then the operator shall submit a response plan for the Division's approval.
(f) The operator of an underground gas storage project shall adhere to an inspection and leak detection protocol that has been approved by the Division. The protocol shall include inspection of the wellhead assembly and attached pipelines for each of the gas storage wells used in association with the underground gas storage project, and the surrounding area within a 100-foot radius of the wellhead of each of the wells used in an underground gas storage project. The inspection protocol shall provide for inspection at least once a day, employing effective gas leak detection technology such as infrared imaging, and shall provide for immediately reporting leaks to the Division. The operator's selection and usage of gas leak detection technology shall take into consideration detection limits, remote detection of difficult to access locations, response time, reproducibility, accuracy, data transfer capabilities, distance from source, background lighting conditions, geography, and meteorology. The Division will consult with the California Air Resources Board when reviewing an inspection and leak detection protocol submitted under this subdivision. The requirements of this subdivision shall cease to apply to an underground gas storage project if the California Air Resources Board approves a monitoring plan under its regulations for that facility.
1. New section filed 6-28-2018; operative 10-1-2018 (Register 2018, No. 26).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 3013, 3106 and 3180, Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections 3106, 3180, 3181, 3220 and 3403.5, Public Resources Code.