Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024
(1) Application and
Approval: The permittee of a well may inject water under pressure into the
formation containing oil or gas for the purpose of obtaining oil or gas from
the reservoir, upon application to and approval by the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality. No water injection or water flooding program may be
instituted until it has been authorized by the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality.
(2) Casing
and Cement: Wells used for the injection of water into the producing formation
or repressuring wells must be cased with sound casing so as not to permit
leakage, and the casing must be cemented in a manner such that damage will not
be caused to oil, gas, or freshwater resources.
(3) Application, Contents, Notice, Objection,
Hearing, and Approval:
(a) An application for
use of water injection must be verified and filed with the department and
include:
(A) The location of the injection
well;
(B) The location of all oil
and gas wells, including any wells and dry holes, and the names of mineral
rights owners within one-half mile of the injection well;
(C) The formations from which wells are
producing or have produced;
(D) The
name, description, and depth of the formations to be injected;
(E) The elevations of the top of the oil- or
gas-bearing formation in the injection well and the wells producing from the
same formation within one-half mile radius of the injection well;
(F) The log of the injection well or similar
available information;
(G)
Description of the injection well casing;
(H) Description of the liquid, stating the
kind, where obtained, and the estimated amounts to be injected daily;
(I) The names and addresses of the
permittees; and
(J) Other
information as the department may require to ascertain whether the injection or
flooding may be safely and legally made.
(b) Applications may be made to include the
use of more than one injection well on the same spacing unit, or on more than
one spacing unit;
(c) Applications
must be executed by all permittees who are to participate in the proposed water
injection or water flooding plan.
(4) Notice of Commencement and Discontinuance
of Water Injection or Water Flooding Operations:
(a) Immediately upon the commencement of
water injection or water flooding operations, the applicant must notify the
department;
(b) Within 10 days
after the discontinuance of water injection or water flooding operations, the
permittee must notify the department of the date of discontinuance and the
reasons for the discontinuance; and
(c) Before any injection well is
decommissioned, the permittee must submit an application to the department, per
OAR 632-010-0198.
(5)
Records. The permittee must keep the following records and make them available
to the department:
(a) The amount of water
injected into the injection wells;
(b) The total amount of water produced;
and
(c) The total amount of oil or
gas produced from the area flooded.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 520
Stats. Implemented: ORS
520.095