Code of Colorado Regulations
400 - Department of Natural Resources
404 - Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
2 CCR 404-1 - PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Section 435 - FORM 6, WELL ABANDONMENT REPORTS

Universal Citation: 2 CO Code Regs 404-1 ยง 435

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 17, September 10, 2024

a. Form 6, Notice of Intent to Abandon. Prior to the abandonment of a Well, a Form 6, Well Abandonment Report - Notice of Intent to Abandon will be submitted to, and approved by, the Director. The Form 6 - Notice of Intent to Abandon will be completed and attachments included to fully describe the proposed abandonment operations. This includes the proposed depths of mechanical plugs and casing cuts; the proposed depths and volumes of all cement plugs; the amount, size and depth of casing and junk to be left in the Well; the volume, weight, and type of Fluid to be left in the wellbore between cement or mechanical plugs; and the nature and quantities of any other materials to be used in the plugging. The Operator will provide a current wellbore diagram and a wellbore diagram showing the proposed plugging procedure with the Form 6. If the Well is not plugged within six months of approval, the operator will file a new Form 6 - Notice of Intent to Abandon.

(1) The Director may add any conditions of the approval to a Form 6 - Notice of Intent to Abandon that are necessary and reasonable to ensure compliance with all requirements of the Commission's Rules or to protect and minimize adverse impacts to public health, safety, welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources.

(2) The Director will review the Oil and Gas Location where the Well is located to ensure that necessary and reasonable conditions of approval are applied to protect and minimize adverse impacts to public health, safety, welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources.

(3) Notice Requirements. An Operator will provide notice of plugging operations to the Surface Owner pursuant to Rule 412.a.(4).

b. Form 6, Subsequent Report of Abandonment.

(1) Within 30 days after abandonment, the Form 6, Well Abandonment Report - Subsequent Report of Abandonment will be filed with the Director. The abandonment details will include an account of the manner in which the abandonment or plugging work was performed. Copies of any casing pressure test results and downhole Logs run during Plugging and Abandonment will be submitted with the Form 6. Additionally, plugging verification reports detailing all procedures are required. A plugging verification report will be submitted for each person or contractor actually setting the plugs. The Form 6 - Subsequent Report of Abandonment and the plugging verification reports will detail the depths of mechanical plugs and casing cuts, the depths and volumes of all cement plugs, the amount, size, and depth of casing and junk left in the Well, the volume and weight of Fluid left in the wellbore, and the nature and quantities of any other materials used in the plugging. Plugging verification reports will conform with the Operator's report and both will show that plugging procedures are at least as extensive as those approved by the Director.

(2) The Director will review an Operator's Form 6 - Subsequent Report of Abandonment, plugging records, and the Well file to evaluate the abandonment or plugging work performed. The Director will approve the form or identify deficiencies for the Operator to correct and may require one of the following:
A. Surface or subsurface monitoring programs after the Well has been plugged and abandoned, if a subsurface or surface Release occurred or may occur;

B. Re-entering the Well to perform remedial cement work or Plugging and Abandonment work; or

C. Any other actions necessary to ensure proper Plugging and Abandonment of the Well.

(3) If the Operator does not take actions necessary to correct deficiencies, the Director may issue a corrective action pursuant to Rule 210.

c. Re-Plugging. A Form 6 - Notice of Intent to Abandon will be submitted to, and approved by, the Director pursuant to Rules 435.a.(1)-(3) prior to the re-entry of a Plugged and Abandoned Well for the purpose of re-plugging the Well. A Form 6 - Subsequent Report of Abandonment will be filed with the Director within 30 days of the completion of the re-plugging operations. These forms will be submitted with all the information required above and any additional information required by current policy.

d. As-Drilled Location. For all Wells being plugged, the Operator will report the latitude and longitude coordinates of the "as drilled" Well location on the Form 6. When plugging a Well for which this data has been obtained and submitted to the Commission previously, the Operator will submit this data on the Form 6 - Notice of Intent to Abandon. When plugging a Well for which this data has not yet been obtained and submitted to the Commission, the Operator will determine the "as drilled" location prior to plugging and submit the location on the Form 6 - Subsequent Report of Abandonment. The latitude and longitude coordinates will be in decimal degrees to an accuracy and precision of five decimals of a degree using the North American Datum ("NAD") of 1983 (e.g., latitude 37.12345, longitude -104.45632). If the Operator uses GPS technology to determine the latitude and longitude, all GPS data will meet the requirements set forth in Rule 216. The Operator will report the accuracy value expressed in meters and the date of the GPS measurement on the Form 6.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Colorado may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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