Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 43 - NATURAL RESOURCES
Part XIX - Office of Conservation-General Operations
Subpart 1 - Statewide Order No. 29-B
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
Section XIX-135 - Directional Drilling and Well Surveys

Universal Citation: LA Admin Code XIX-135

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

A. Except as otherwise provided in §135, every well drilled in the state of Louisiana shall be drilled in such a manner that at any measured depth the actual or apparent location of the wellbore shall be within a circle whose center is the surface location and whose radius is equal to said measured depth multiplied by the factor 0.087156. The actual or apparent resultant deviation of the wellbore from the vertical shall not be in excess of 5 degrees at any measured depth. In the event a survey indicates that the wellbore is outside the above circle at any measured depth, the wellbore must be straightened and drilling may continue only within the specified limit. A directional survey shall be required and shall be filed with appropriate district manager as confirmation that the wellbore has been straightened and is in fact within the above limit.

1. After an operator has commenced drilling a well and desires to change the bottom-hole location by directionally controlling and intentionally deflecting said well from the vertical whether more or less than 5 degrees, unless done to straighten the hole or to sidetrack junk in the hole or because of other mechanical difficulties, he shall first make application for an amended location showing by attached plat the amended projected bottom-hole objective and secure an amended permit to drill before commencing such operations. The amended bottom-hole location or objective shall comply with all minimum distances from lease or property lines as prescribed by all statewide orders or any other applicable field orders.

2. In the event a well is to be drilled at a distance from a property line where such distance is less than the apparent resultant lateral deviation, as determined by multiplying the proposed total depth of the well by the factor 0.087156, a permit to drill for minerals will be issued with the understanding that the operator will be required to furnish the appropriate district manager with inclination and/or directional survey data as proof that the well will be completed in compliance with the provisions of this Statewide Order No. 29-B before an allowable is assigned to said well.

B. An inclination survey shall be made on all wells drilled in the state of Louisiana with the first shot point at a depth not greater than that of the surface casing seat and succeeding shot points not more than 1,000 feet apart. Inclination surveys conforming to these requirements may be made either during the normal course of drilling or after the well has reached total depth. Such survey data shall be certified by the operator's representative and/or drilling contractor and shall indicate the resultant lateral deviation as the sum of the calculated lateral displacement determined between each inclination survey point assuming that all such displacement occurs in the direction of the nearest property line. If a directional survey determining the bottom of the hole is filed with the Commissioner of Conservation upon completion of the well, it shall not be necessary to furnish the inclination survey data.

1. Except as otherwise specified herein, all inclination and/or directional survey data shall be filed along with Form WH (Well History).

C. A directional survey shall be run and three certified copies thereof filed by or at the direction of the operator with the appropriate district manager of the Department of Conservation on all future wells drilled in the state of Louisiana where:

1. the well is directionally controlled and is thereby intentionally deflected from the vertical; or

2. the surface location is less than 330 feet from the nearest property line, and the well is drilled below a depth of 3,786 feet; or

3. the resultant lateral deviation as calculated from inclination survey data is a distance greater than the distance from the center of the surface location of the wellbore to the nearest property line; or

4. the wellbore deviates laterally a resultant distance greater than that determined by a 5-degree angle from a vertical line passing through the center of the surface location of the wellbore.

Property Line, as used herein, shall mean the boundary dividing tracts on which mineral rights, royalty rights or leases are separately owned except that where a unit as defined in Section 9, Paragraph B, of Revised Statutes of 1950, has been created, the boundaries of the unit shall be considered the property line.

D. The Commissioner of Conservation, on his own initiative or at the request of an offset operator, shall have the right to require the operator to run a directional survey on any well if there is reasonable cause therefor. Whenever a survey is so required by the commissioner at the request of an offset operator and the operator of the well and the offset operator are unable to agree as to the terms and conditions for running such survey, the commissioner, upon request of either, shall determine such terms and conditions, after notice to all interested parties and a public hearing.

E. Unless required by the Commissioner of Conservation under §135. D hereof, a directional survey shall not be required for any well which is not directionally controlled and thereby intentionally deflected from the vertical and which has a surface location, maximum angle of deviation, and total depth, all in compliance with the provisions hereof.

F. The Commissioner of Conservation may assess appropriate penalties for failure to comply with any of the provisions hereof.

G. The provisions hereof shall not alter or affect the minimum spacing provisions of Statewide Orders 29-E and 29-H or any other applicable orders.

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 30:4 et seq.

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