North Dakota Administrative Code
Title 43 - Industrial Commission
Article 43-02 - Mineral Exploration and Development
Chapter 43-02-03 - Oil and Gas Conservation
Section 43-02-03-16 - Application for permit to drill and recomplete
Current through Supplement No. 392, April, 2024
Before any person shall begin any well-site preparation for the drilling of any well other than surveying and staking, such person shall obtain approval from the director. An application for permit to drill must be filed with the director, together with a permit fee of one hundred dollars. Site construction, or appurtenance or road access thereto, may not commence until such application is approved and a permit to drill is issued by the director. Verbal approval may be given for site preparation by the director in extenuating circumstances to include contractual obligations, an expiring lease, or an expiring right-of-way. The application must be accompanied by the bond pursuant to section 43-02-03-15 or the applicant must have previously filed such bond with the director, otherwise the application is incomplete. An incomplete application received by the director has no standing and will not be deemed filed until it is completed.
The application for permit to drill shall be accompanied by an accurate plat certified by a registered surveyor showing the location of the proposed well with reference to true north and the nearest lines of a governmental section, the latitude and longitude of the proposed well location to the nearest tenth of a second, the ground elevation, and the proposed road access to the nearest existing public road. Information to be included in such application shall be the proposed depth to which the well will be drilled, estimated depth to the top of important markers, estimated depth to the top of objective horizons, the proposed mud program, the proposed casing program, including size and weight thereof, the depth at which each casing string is to be set, the proposed pad layout, including cut and fill diagrams, and the proposed amount of cement to be used, including the estimated top of cement.
For wells permitted on new pads built after July 31, 2013, permit conditions imposed by the director may include, upon request of the owner of a permanently occupied dwelling within one thousand feet of the proposed well, requiring the location of all flares, tanks, and treaters utilized in connection with the permitted well be located at a greater distance from the occupied dwelling than the well head, if the location can be reasonably accommodated within the proposed pad location. If the facilities are proposed to be located farther from the dwelling than the well bore, the director can issue the permit without comment from the dwelling owner. The applicant shall give any such owners written notice of the proposed facilities personally or by certified mail, return receipt requested, and addressed to their last-known address listed with the county property tax department. The director must receive written comments from such owner within five business days of the owner receiving said notice. An application for permit must include an affidavit from the applicant identifying each owner's name and address, and the date written notice was given to each owner. The owner's notice must include:
1. A copy of North Dakota Century Code section 38-08-05.
2. The name, telephone number, and if available the electronic mail address of the applicant's local representative.
3. A sketch of the area indicating the location of the owner's dwelling, the proposed well, and location of the proposed flare, tanks, and treaters.
4. A statement indicating that any such owner objecting to the location of the flare, tanks, or treaters, must notify the director within five business days of receiving the notice.
Prior to the commencement of recompletion operations or drilling horizontally in the existing pool, an application for permit must be approved by the director. Such application shall be filed to reenter a well by drilling horizontally, deepening, or plugging back to any source of supply other than the producing horizon in an existing well. Such notice shall include the name and file number and exact location of the well, the approximate date operations will begin, the proposed procedure, the estimated completed total depth, the anticipated hydrogen sulfide content in produced gas from the proposed source of supply, the weight and grade of all casing currently installed in the well unless waived by the director, the casing program to be followed, and the original total depth with a permit fee of fifty dollars. The director may deny any application if it is determined, in accordance with the latest version of ANSI/NACE MR0175/ISO 15156, that the casing currently installed in the well would be subject to sulfide stress cracking.
The applicant shall provide all information, in addition to that specifically required by this section, if requested by the director. The director may impose such terms and conditions on the permits issued under this section as the director deems necessary.
The director shall deny an application for a permit under this section if the proposal would cause, or tend to cause, waste or violate correlative rights. The director of oil and gas shall state in writing to the applicant the reason for the denial of the permit. The applicant may appeal the decision of the director to the commission.
A permit to drill automatically expires one year after the date it was issued, unless the well is drilling or has been drilled below surface casing. A permit to recomplete or to drill horizontally automatically expires one year after the date it was issued, unless such project has commenced. The director may extend a permit to drill and a permit to recomplete or drill horizontally for up to one year upon request.
General Authority: NDCC 38-08-05
Law Implemented: NDCC 38-08-05
