North Dakota Administrative Code
Title 43 - Industrial Commission
Article 43-02 - Mineral Exploration and Development
Chapter 43-02-03 - Oil and Gas Conservation
Section 43-02-03-55 - Abandonment of wells, treating plants, underground gathering pipelines, or saltwater handling facilities - Suspension of drilling

1. The removal of production equipment or the failure to produce oil or gas for one year constitutes abandonment of the well. The removal of production equipment or the failure to produce water from a source well for one year constitutes abandonment of the well. The removal of injection equipment or the failure to use an injection well for one year constitutes abandonment of the well. The removal of monitoring equipment from or the failure to use a subsurface observation well for one year constitutes abandonment of the well. The failure to plug a stratigraphic test hole within one year of reaching total depth constitutes abandonment of the well. The removal of treating plant equipment or the failure to use a treating plant for one year constitutes abandonment of the treating plant. The removal of saltwater handling facility equipment or the failure to use a saltwater handling facility for one year constitutes abandonment of the saltwater handling facility. An abandoned well must be plugged and its site must be reclaimed, an abandoned treating plant must be removed and its site must be reclaimed, and an abandoned saltwater handling facility must be removed and its site must be reclaimed, pursuant to sections 43-02-03-34 and 43-02-03-34.1. A well not producing oil or natural gas in paying quantities for one year may be placed in abandoned-well status pursuant to subsection 1 of North Dakota Century Code section 38-08-04. If an injection well is inactive for extended periods of time, the commission may, after notice and hearing, require the injection well to be plugged and abandoned. If an underground gathering pipeline is inactive for seven years, the commission may, after notice and hearing, require the pipeline to be properly abandoned pursuant to sections 43-02-03-29 and 43-02-03-29.1.

2. The director may waive for one year the requirement to plug and reclaim an abandoned well by giving the well temporarily abandoned status for good cause. If a well is given temporarily abandoned status, the well's perforations must be isolated, the integrity of its casing must be proven, and its casing must be sealed at the surface, all in a manner approved by the director. The director may extend a well's temporarily abandoned status and each extension may be approved for up to one year. A fee of one hundred dollars shall be submitted for each application to extend the temporary abandonment status of any well. A surface owner may request a hearing to review a well temporarily abandoned for at least seven years pursuant to subsection 1 of North Dakota Century Code section 38-08-04. Temporarily abandoned status for oil and gas wells may be given only to wells that are to be used for purposes related to the production of oil and gas within the next seven years.

3. The director may approve an oil well for enhanced oil recovery potential status if the subject oil well was completed with surface casing set and cemented to properly isolate the Fox Hills formation, additional strings of casing are properly cemented to adequately protect and isolate all formations containing water, oil, or gas or any combination of these, protect the pipe through salt sections encountered, and isolate the uppermost sand of the Dakota group, and the director has deemed the subject well to have a potential use in an enhanced oil recovery project. If a well is given enhanced oil recovery potential status, the well's perforations must be isolated, the integrity of its casing must be proven, and its casing must be sealed at the surface, all in a manner approved by the director. A surface owner may request a hearing to review a well that has been on enhanced oil recovery potential status for at least twelve years, pursuant to subsection 1 of North Dakota Century Code section 38-08-04.

4. In addition to the waiver in subsection 2, the director may also waive the duty to plug and reclaim an abandoned well for any other good cause found by the director. If the director exercises this discretion, the director shall set a date or circumstance upon which the waiver expires.

5. The director may approve suspension of the drilling of a well. If suspension is approved, a plug must be placed at the top of the casing to prevent any foreign matter from getting into the well. When drilling has been suspended for thirty days, the well, unless otherwise authorized by the director, must be plugged and its site reclaimed pursuant to sections 43-02-03-34 and 43-02-03-34.1.