Texas Administrative Code
Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION
Part 1 - RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Chapter 3 - OIL AND GAS DIVISION
Section 3.28 - Potential and Deliverability of Gas Wells to be Ascertained and Reported
Current through Reg. 49, No. 12; March 22, 2024
(a) The information necessary to determine the absolute daily open flow potential of each producing associated or nonassociated gas well shall be ascertained, and a report shall be filed as required with the Commission within 90 days of completion of the well. The test shall be performed in accordance with the Commission's publication, Back Pressure Test for Natural Gas Wells, State of Texas, or other test procedure approved in advance by the Commission and shall be reported on the Commission's prescribed form. An operator may determine absolute open flow potential from a stabilized one-point test. For a one-point test, the well shall be flowed on a single choke setting until a stabilized flow is achieved, but not less than 72 hours. The shut-in and flowing bottom hole pressures shall be calculated in the manner prescribed for a four-point test. The Commission may authorize a one-point test of shorter duration for a well which is not connected to a sales line, but a test which is in compliance with this section must be conducted and reported after the well is connected before an allowable will be assigned to the well. Back-dating of allowables will be performed in accordance with § RSA 3.31 of this title (relating to Gas Reservoirs and Gas Well Allowable).
(b) After conducting the test required by subsection (a) of this section each operator of a gas well shall conduct an initial deliverability test and report the test results on the Commission's prescribed form not later than 90 days after completion of the well. If a 72-hour one-point back pressure test on a well connected to a sales line was conducted as provided in subsection (a) of this section, the same test may be used to determine initial deliverability, provided the test was conducted in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.
(c) Unless applicable special field rules provide otherwise or the director of the oil and gas division or the director's delegate authorizes an alternate procedure due to a well's producing characteristics, deliverability tests shall be performed as follows. Deliverability tests shall be scheduled by the producer within the testing period designated by the Commission, and only the recorded data specified by the Form G-10 is required to be reported. All deliverability tests shall be performed by producing the subject well at stabilized rates for a minimum time period of 72 hours. A deliverability test shall be conducted under normal and usual operating conditions using the normal and usual operating equipment in place on the well being tested, and the well shall be produced against the normal and usual line pressure prevailing in the line into which the well produces. The average daily producing rate for each 24-hour period, the wellhead pressure before the commencement of the 72-hour test, and the flowing wellhead pressure at the beginning of each 24-hour period shall be recorded. In addition, a 24-hour shut-in wellhead pressure shall be determined either within the six-month period prior to the commencement of the 72-hour deliverability test or immediately after the completion of the deliverability test. The shut-in wellhead pressure that was determined and the date on which the 24-hour test was commenced shall be recorded on Form G-10. Exceptions and extensions to the timing requirements for deliverability tests and shut-in wellhead pressure tests may be granted by the Commission for good cause. The flow rate during each day of the first 48 hours of the test must be as close as possible to the flow rate during the final 24 hours of the test, but must equal at least 75% of such flow rate. The deliverability of the well during the last 24 hours of the flow test shall be used for allowable and allocation purposes. If pipeline conditions exist such that a producer believes a representative deliverability test cannot be performed, the producer with pipeline notification may request in writing that the Commission use either of the following as the deliverability of record:
(d) After the initial deliverability test, an operator may elect not to perform and/or file a subsequent deliverability test for a well. In those cases, the Commission shall use the lesser of the following as the deliverability of record for the purpose of this section:
(e) Notwithstanding subsection (d) of this section, a deliverability test must be performed on a well in accordance with this section:
(f) If the deliverability of a well changes after a test is reported to the Commission, the deliverability of record for a well will be decreased upon receipt of a written request from the operator to reduce the deliverability of record to a specified amount. If the deliverability of a well increases, a retest must be conducted in the manner specified in this section and must be reported on Form G-10 before the deliverability of record will be increased.
(g) First purchasers with packages of gas dedicated entirely to a downstream purchaser shall coordinate testing with and provide test results to that downstream purchaser if requested by the downstream purchaser. In these cases, the downstream purchaser upon request to the operator shall have the right to witness all deliverability tests and retests.
(h) Tests of wells connected to a pipeline shall be made in a manner that no gas is flared, vented, or otherwise wastefully used.